The Quiet One

This study guide will help you analyze the short story “The Quiet One” by Stephen Gibbin, which was part of the written exam in English A on STX the 17th of August 2022. You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting it and putting it into perspective.

If you need help with Assignments 1-3 from the STX A exam on the 17th of August 2022, you can check out our guide here.

Presentation of the text

Title: “The Quiet One” (2020)
Author: Stephen Gibbin
Genre: Short story

Stephen Gibbin is a writer from North Yorkshire, UK. His short story “The Quiet One” won the Bath Short Story Award in 2020 and was then published in The Bath Short Story Award Anthology 2020. This is Gibbin’s first published work, but he is also working on a short story collection and a novel.

Excerpt

Below, you can read an excerpt from our study guide:

Message

Taking into account the themes of the short story, one message could be that even quiet and nice people can react negatively or aggressively when they reach their boiling point after being faced with too much injustice and humiliation. Though he is known as the quiet one, Liam gets to a point where he shouts and fights, just like his brother, after being mocked and lied to.

Another message of the story could be that the environment young kids grow in greatly influences them and witnessing constant violence causes them to be more likely to become violent in turn. Both Liam and Courtney are ...