The Gift

I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere novellen “The Gift” af Karen Phillips, som indgik i skriftlig eksamen i Engelsk B på HF den 20. august 2019. Udover analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af novellen samt idéer til at fortolke teksten og diskutere emnet.

Hvis du har brug for hjælp til Assignments 1-5 fra den skriftlige eksamen på HF B den 20. august 2021, kan du læse vores vejledning her.

Præsentation af teksten

Titel: “The Gift” (2017)
Forfatter: Karen Phillips
Genre: Short story

Karen Phillips er en newzealandsk forfatter, som debuterede i 2009. Hendes historier er blevet udgivet i diverse magasiner. I 2017 udgav hun novellesamlingen Question of Blood, som blandt andet inkluderer novellen “The Gift”.

Uddrag

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Title

The title of the short story, “The Gift” by Karen Phillips refers to the gift that the narrator is thinking of buying for her ex-husband’s wedding with another woman. The narrator thinks about buying them a colorful painting which reminds her of Amelia. This potential gift is symbolic of the narrator’s regrets about her marriage, but it also suggests that she is able to let go and hopes Amelia will be happy with Ron.

She also hints that buying such a painting for their home might have helped their marriage to survive: “When I was at the farm I wanted to buy a piece of art to lighten the south-facing corner between the front door and our bedroom, but there were always things that we needed more…” (ll. 132-134). The painting becomes symbolic of the joy that the narrator failed to bring in their life at the farm, and how the couple allowed practical everyday concerns to become bigger than their immediate happiness.