Structure

The short story “Renaude” by Charlotte Bondy is structured around the friendship between teenagers Clara and Mischa. The text is devoid of plot and only focuses on the way the two friends get along together. However, the appearance of Renaude, the Canadian student, brings a new element to their friendship.

In what follows, we will outline each important moment of the plot.

Title

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Beginning

The exposition of the story introduces the two main characters, Clara and Mischa. Clara, who is also the narrator, talks about how she first approached the boy and how their friendship began:

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Middle

In the rising action of the story, several episodes further explore the friendship between Mischa and Clara. First, some information about Mischa’s background is given:

The two of them moved here from Moscow when Mischa was nine, and she is working on her doctoral dissertation, something complicated to do with physics. His dad was a radical Russian poet and left when Mischa was still a baby. His mum hasn’t dated anyone since. She’s always in the lab, working. (ll. 19-22)

The two friends spend quite some time at Mischa’s house, where they eat, drink, cook, listen to music, do drugs or watch porn. Here, another foreshadowing element is introduced; when Clara states that their parents allow them to have “sleepovers a lot” (l. 29), we begin to suspect that their parents are not worried about something physical developing between the pair.

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Ending

After they leave Renaude’s house, Clara and Mischa go to Clara’s house, where the girl’s mother awaits and greets them warmly. This is the falling action in the short story. We find out that Clara has been lying to her mother about Renaude, telling her that they were going to see a movie, not that they were visiting their new friend.

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