Setting

Physical setting

The short story “The Quiet One” by Stephen Gibbin takes place in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. This is indicated in several ways in the text, for instance by the slang used, which is typical of British working-class people. 

More specifically, the short story takes place at Liam’s grandfather’s shed on his allotment. The shed is Liam’s safe place and provides a contrast to the school where he is being bullied: 

School was shit. 

The shed was best. 

The shed was Liam’s favourite place in the whole world. Inside it smelt of creosote, dried dirt and 20 cigarette smoke. Even had an oak desk that his grandad had salvaged from the tip. 

Besides the shed, it is worth noticing that the story takes place in a garden. The allotment - and what happens there - holds many parallels to the Garden of Eden in the biblical story of the Fall of Man. In this story, Eve eats the forbidden fruit and tempts Adam into doing the same. They both end up losing their innocence and get expelled from the Garden by God. 

In “The Quiet One”, Courtney becomes a symbol of Eve as she tempts Liam into letting her eat one of his strawberries and then into kissing her. Liam may first be seen as a symbol of Adam. However, as he realizes he has been tricked, he becomes upset and aggressive. Symbolically, he then becomes the angry God who punishes Courtney by expelling her from the allotment.

Liam loses his innocence in two ways. Firstly, he symbolically loses his sexual innocence as Courtney introduces him to the...