Structure

Title

The title of Safia Moore’s short story, “That Summer”, sparks curiosity because it does not reveal much of the plot. It only suggests the events happened sometime in the past, during a summer. Reading the story shows the plot revolves around the death of Mrs Walsh, a Catholic woman living in a Protestant town in Northern Ireland, presented from the point of view of a local boy.

The title is linked to how the story begins and ends. The story begins with the phrase from the title and announces the narrator’s prediction: “That summer, I was sure someone would die” (l.1). The opening line is straightforward and foreshadows the main event of the story. The story also ends with a reference to the phrase ‘that summer’, giving the story a circular structure: “It was that summer. There were trees to climb, a stream to jump, and hours to go before teatime.” (ll. 122-123)

The use of the title in the story helps suggest that the events of that summer had a strong impact on the narrator, even if he did not realise it at the time. The story suggests that he was powerfully affected by the death of Mrs Walsh, with whom he was fascinated. The presence of the Walshes in his town also taught him about the tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

This is also signalled through references to the heat wave and sunrays or to Mrs Walsh sunbathing. The summer heat and sun become symbols of the heavy atmosphere in the story and the Protestants’ attitude towards the only Catholic family in town. Another point to consider is that th...