Structure

The plot in “Streamlining” by Muli Amaye serves as a frame to explore the main character’s conflicts with her family and her past.

Title

The title of the short story, “Streamlining”, means making an organisation or a system more effective through faster or simpler methods (easing a process). In this case, the title refers to the main character’s approach at work, in which she dismisses critical or lazy team members and calls it streamlining: “Weeded out the slackers and off-loaded them onto other teams. Nicely, of course. Streamlining she called it. Saving the company money. In reality, she dumped anyone who challenged her with attitude.” (ll. 84-86)

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Beginning

The short story begins in media res (in the middle of events), right in the middle of a conversation between the characters. This technique helps the author get the readers’ attention:

‘So, like, nobody gets buried these days, yeah. We gotta look after the earth’s resources, innit?’

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Middle

The middle of the short story conveys what happens during the car ride to Jocie and Brandon’s mother’s house. The rising action is constructed by focusing on Jocie’s outer and inner conflicts.

The interactions with her brother lead to Jocie having flashbacks about the past, which reveal her frustrations with both her brother and mother: “That was because Mother doted on him. He couldn’t do anything wrong.” (l. 23); “Her earliest memories were about being responsible: for waking up Brandon with her crying; for giving Mummy a headache with all her chatter; for making Daddy leave because she was always naughty.” (ll. 28-30)

It is also suggested that Jocie suffered because their father left them when they were young.

Tension is marked mostly by describing Jocie’s feelings which have physical manifestations, and which suggest that she is frustrated, anxious, and angry: “The feeling of dread was working its way through her system. It started in her bladder area - her root chakra according to Anna - then clomped through her innards in wooden clogs until it reached her solar plexus.” (ll. 39-41)

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Ending

The brief falling action shows Jocie relaxing, kissing her mother, and handing her the groceries: “Looking Mother in the eye, she gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. She gave her brother two fingers behind Mother’s back...” (ll. 130-131)

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