Structure

Here is our discussion regarding the structure of the story “Lost Boys” by Deborah Moggach.

Title

The title of the short story, “Lost Boys”, is misleading as it might lead readers to assume the main characters of the story are boys. However, the story is focused on two female characters—the narrator and Lily—and their relationship with their children, their attitude as mothers. Lily is the narrator’s mother-in-law and a painter. Independent and free-spirited, Lily neglects her boy Ewan when he grows up. The narrator who is married to Ewan cannot understand Ewan’s frustrations about his mother until she has children of her own.

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Beginning

The short story begins in media res, with a statement of the narrator’s husband, hooking readers’ attention: “My husband Ewan once shouted: ‘Don’t you realize I had a deprived childhood?’ ” (p. 34, ll. 1-2)

The exposition continues with a detailed backstory on Ewan’s mother and their relationship, as well as the narrator’s perspective on the woman.

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Middle

The rising action begins to develop with a change of circumstances, as the narrator has children of her own: “It all changed, as everything does, when we had children.” (p. 35, l. 18). Through this line the narrator prepares readers for the next events in the plot.

We find out that the narrator could not visit Lily as often as she liked because she had to take care of the children, and because Lily’s flat was not a child-friendly place: “My own parents’ house was, as always, more comfortable and appropriate than Lily’s flat.” (p. 35, ll. 29-30)

Tension increases, as the narrator begins to feel isolated and frustrated by being a stay-at-home mother and about her marriage: “What was I like; where had I gone? I felt empty, and empty vessel, drained by others’ needs. I wanted to be myself, like Lily.” (p. 36, ll. 12-13)

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Ending

The falling action presents the narrator finally understanding why her husband felt neglected by his mother: “Lost boys. I pictured Ewan, a little boy in his school blazer, waiting at the school gates for a mother who never arrived.” (p. 40, ll. 1-2)

She also decides not to tell Ewan what happened at the pond.

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