Themes

Escape

The theme of the short story “The Wall-Reader” by Fiona Barr is that of escape. The theme is illustrated in the short story mainly with the help of the main character, Mary.

First of all, Mary is a recent stay-at-home mother, while her husband, Sean, works in an office. There are clear indications that Mary is well-educated and idealistic and might resent her housewife role and the expectations of respectability that come with it. Even though she tries to behave as “respectable housewives” should for appearances’ sake, she also uses certain activities to escape her condition.

Mary’s practice of “reading walls” and the romantic notions she has about the people who write political slogans on buildings are a clear sign of her inclination towards fantasy and idealism. Mary goes even further and wants people to write something about her on walls. This hints at her discontentment with who she is, and how she feels that she is observing life, but not actually living it. 

In many ways, Mary’s interactions with the English soldier can also be considered a means of escape, for both of them. For Mary, this is “a meeting of minds…a new opinion, a common bond, an opening of vistas.” Mary is so desperate to be seen and ack...