I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere novellen "Just Like That" af Michael Richards, som findes i antologien Contexts (s. 25-29). Udover analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af teksten samt idéer til fortolkning og perspektivering.
Præsentation af teksten
Titel: “Just Like That” (1987)
Forfatter: Michael Richards
Genre: Short story
Michael Richards er en australsk forfatter, som har modtaget adskillige litteraturpriser for sine noveller. Richards startede sin karriere som fotograf og fik senere arbejde som uddannelsesleder, mens han sideløbende har brugt sin fritid på at skrive litteratur.
Uddrag
Nedenfor kan du læse et kort uddrag fra vores study guide til teksten:
Title
The short story’s title “Just Like That” initially suggests that readers are going to discover something that happens relatively fast. The narrative presents the context of the title from the first line of the story – it refers to the quick and easy way in which the kangaroos can be killed: “ ‘Dead,’ said the man, ‘just like that.’ ” (p. 25, l. 1)
The man uses the expression “just like that” at the beginning of the story and once more towards its end. The first time, the man says it to show the boy how easily he can kill an animal. The second time, the man says it after the boy kills the large male kangaroo; this suggests that the man approves of the boy’s actions and of his ability to kill the biggest kangaroo.
The ending of the story suggests that the expression might also be used a third time, but this is not made explicit. As the boy and the man turn to the car, the boy points the rifle towards the back of the man’s head and says “ ‘Dead’ ” (p. 29, l. 30). The ending is unclear, but it suggests that the boy might have shot the man and killed him “just like that” – just like the two characters have shot and killed the kangaroos. This might symbolize the boy's desire to become a man, which was not realized by killing the kangaroos, and thus might require something more dramatic.
