I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere novellen “The Lazy River” af Zadie Smith. Udover analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af teksten, samt idéer til fortolkning og perspektivering.
Zadie Smith (f. 1975) er en britisk forfatter, som både skriver romaner og noveller. Hendes værker har vundet adskillige litteraturpriser.
The narrator demonstrates a relatively broad knowledge of the current political situation. She is aware of the immigration problem in Spain and of the exploitation experienced by African immigrants (ll. 61-64). She knows the routes these people take to get to Spain and the hardships they face. She is aware of environmental issues such as pollution and global warming (ll. 151-152). She is also knowledgeable about literature, as she can give quotes from Heraclitus (l. 124) and fable examples from the Bible (l. 66). However, she is also able to ignore her knowledge of these issues, because she is on holiday and is focused on enjoying herself.
She also has a philosophical inclination, as she ponders about the course of life, the passing of time, human nature, ethics, etc. She has an inquisitive mind, asking rhetorical questions such as “What is the solution to life? How can it be lived ‘well’?” (l. 109)
However, in spite of this, the narrator displays an indifferent attitude. She actively tries to ignore the issues she sees around her, motivating this by saying she is on vacation: “The vision passed. It was of no use to me or anyone, at that moment, on our vacation” (ll. 71-72). She also states that “Not one soul among us has read the recent novel set right here, in Almería, nor do we have any intention of doing so” (ll. 59-60), and also that “It’s quite true that we, being British, could not point to the Lazy River on a map of Spain, but it is also true that we have no need to do so” (ll. 75-76). The narrator proves to be ignorant of the local culture and only uses the Lazy River as a way to escape from her daily problems.
The narrator seems to be protective of her children. The group exit the hotel to please the children, the narrator holds them close when they are upset about not being able to play on the trampoline (l. 177), and when they reach the hotel, she and her partner put the children to bed (l. 212). The narrator wants to protect her children from unstable environments in the present and future, but she is aware that the children will ultimately learn about this on their own. Although she manages to protect them in the short term, she is unable to consider trying to protect them in the long run by attempting to make changes in her life and the wider world to save it (ll. 182-184).The narrator also decides to “divert our children’s eyes from the obscene bulge of those iPhones, the existence of which we have decided not to reveal to them for many years, or at least until they are twelve” (ll. 207-209). Therefore, she attempts to prevent her children from developing addictions to technology and to be exposed to the unfiltered online medium. However, she herself seems to be addicted to technology, like the other adults (l. 213).
The narrator is not a developing character. Although she observes the issues that surround her, she prefers to ignore them and does not do anything to bring a change in her life. She maintains a mob mentality from the beginning of the story to its end, enjoying the lazy river both metaphorically and literally throughout.
