Structure
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Beginning
The short story begins in medias res, in the middle of events. Gavin, a 12-year-old thin boy with unusually thick eyebrows (ll. 5-6), is making a catapult on the verandah of his house.
As the exposition continues, the narrator provides a backstory on Gavin and his sister Amanda: she is away at boarding school, and Gavin will join her the following year. Since Amanda turned 15, she has been disinterested in playing with Gavin and instead prefers to go shopping with their mother. This makes Gavin hate her (l. 16); moreover, he feels like he is excluded from what seems to him like a conspiracy between the women in the family. This is a foreshadowing element for Gavin’s wish to remain alone with …
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Middle
In the rising action, the narrator provides another backstory. Gavin enters his parents’ bedroom slowly, because he had an unpleasant experience in the past: he found his parents sleeping naked on the bed.
Gavin’s mother sits in front of the dressing table, brushing her hair. The narrator states that Gavin “felt strange and uneasy about her” (l. 64), which emphasises the fact that he is attracted to her but also uncertain about how he feels and creates a tension point in the story. This also explains why Gavin would like to see his father gone – he probably perceives him as a rival for his mother’s love.
Gavin leaves his mother’s bedroom without saying goodbye and walks down the road. The narrator proceeds to describe the surroundings of his house and provides a backstory on Gavin’s family:
The university campus was a large…
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Ending
In the falling action, Gavin spots the big lizard and prepares to shoot it: “Stupid lizard, he thought, sunbathing, you never know who’s around.” (l. 166). A tension point is created as Gavin imagines the rock striking the lizard and begins to change his mind about killing it (ll. 169-171).
The ending suggests that Gavin intends to confront his mother: “His mother would be home now, he should have enough time before his father returned.” (ll. 171-172).
The resolution shows Gavin…
