Getting Somewhere

This study guide will help you analyze the short story “Getting Somewhere” by Susan Isaacs, which has been used for a written exam in English B HF on the 2nd of December, 2021. You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting and discussing it.

If you need help with Assignments 1-5 from the HF B exam on the 2nd of December 2021, you can find our guide here.

Extract

Here, you can read an extract from our study guide:

Similes

The short story makes use of similes. When Karen looks at Haitians running across the road, she thinks about them being thin, but “not in a good way, like an African supermodel” (ll. 20-21). This simile suggests that Karen is slightly superficial and implies that she lives in a privileged world of fashion and luxury.

In this light, the following simile hints at Karen’s lack of knowledge and slight insensitivity regarding race: “Then I started to see more and more black people, not like American blacks who come in so many colors that it’s stupid to call them black, so I probably should start saying African American” (ll. 83-85).

Another simile is used when Karen describes the Haitian woman who helped the refugees: “She handed me back a ten, like a mother who wouldn’t want a kid to go out without any money” (ll. 114-115). Here, the simile hints at the woman’s kindness and at Karen’s surprise and emotion at meeting a selfless woman.