Perspectives

Literary period

William Boyd’s short story “Killing Lizards” fits the literary movement we call Modernism, which was mostly popular in fiction writing between the 1910s and the 1960s. Although the story was published in 1981, Modernism was still a popular literary style used by many authors.

Modernist works can be recognised through themes, context, and narrative techniques. In “Killing Lizards”, we notice that William Boyd explores themes like the transition from childhood to adolescence and the consequences of emotional neglect on children. These themes are often encountered in modernist works.

In terms of modernist narrative techniques, “Killing Lizards” focuses on the main character’s perception of the world around him and translates his psychological...