Analysis

An analysis of the novel extract “Grace” by Philipp Meyer shows that the text has a chronological structure. The extract focuses on a few hours of Grace’s life and her thoughts, as she drives to and from work on a Saturday.

The main character is Grace, a woman in her forties. The narrative focuses on her life in the town of Buell after the collapse of the steel mill industry.

The setting is the fictional town of Buell, located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. As Grace recalls the past, she thinks of other steel towns in the Valley, which are currently in ruins.

The events are told by a third-person narrator who has access to Grace’s perspective. The narrator helps readers gain access to Grace’s thoughts and feelings, highlighted with the help of the stream-of-consciousness technique.

The language used in the story portrays the decay of the steel mill industry in the US and highlights the people’s depression and the hardships they have to endure.

You can read a full analysis of the extract on the following pages.

Engelsk

Short story analysis

I denne vejledning får du Studienets hjælp til at analysere noveller (short stories) i engelsk.

Excerpt

Below, you can read an excerpt from our study guide:

Symbol

The wedding dresses that Grace and her coworkers sew are symbols of injustice and economic inequality. Grace and the other women are underpaid and aware that the wedding dresses they work on are sold for thousands of dollars in the city. However, they cannot afford to lose their jobs, so they know better than to ask for better hours or bigger wages or to get organized in a union.