The Wall-Reader

This study guide will help you analyze the short story “The Wall-Reader” by Fiona Barr. You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting it and putting it into perspective.

Presentation of the text

Title: “The Wall-Reader” (1979)
Author: Fiona Barr
Genre: Short story

Fiona Barr (b.1952) is a writer from Northern Ireland, whose works are usually set in the time of the Troubles. The short story "The Wall-Reader" appeared in 1979 in the collection The-Wall Reader and Other Stories.

Excerpt

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Similes and metaphors

After Mary and Sean manage to escape in the minivan, they feel relieved, “like refugees seeking safety and freedom not too far away”. The simile is quite telling, as it highlights the fact that they are fleeing a conflict zone, even though they had believed themselves not to be part of that conflict until then. This points to how the Troubles affected them, too, in the end, although they initially believed this would never happen.

After the couple discovers the word “TOUT” written on their house, they act “like sleepwalkers”. This simile illustrates the shock of the discovery, as well as the unreal quality it seems to have for them. Until then, they believed themselves unaffected by the Troubles, following a fixed routine, and living respectable lives. However, now they have become targets, which stuns them.

Mary considers ...