Themes and message

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Communication

One important theme in the short story “She’s the Bomb” by T. Coraghessan Boyle is communication. The text presents the struggle of Hailey Phegler to tell the truth about her dropping out of college.

Hailey seems to have problems with communication and interacting with people. When she encounters Stephanie, she does not participate in the exchange and, instead, lets Stephanie do all the talking. She does not reply to her greetings and does not thank her when Stephanie congratulates her (ll. 18-25).

Hailey also refuses to communicate with her friends and family. She is mortified at the thought of speaking to her mother about the fact that she stopped attending her courses and states that she would rather die than tell her (l. 37). She feels compelled to lie, which makes a truthful communication impossible. Furthermore, when she experiences a depressive episode, she does not seek help and, instead, shuts herself in and stops attending social gatherings like going to the bar or her university courses.

The text deals with how communication is related to technology. The only method of communication that Hailey seems to be comfortable with is text messaging. Through this digital medium, she expresses herself freely, laying out her negative feelings and unethical thoughts without inhibitions. This could be because Hailey doesn't enjoy human interaction...

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