Relationship between the characters

Your exam question asks you to analyze the relationship between the characters in the short story “The World Ending in Fire” by Jan Carson. 

The narrator and Lyndsey

In childhood, the narrator and Lyndsey are close friends. Though they are only eight to ten years old during the events of the story, the narrator understands that Lyndsey is struggling after the death of her father and her mother’s breakdown. Because of this, the narrator tries to be kind to her friend and shield her: “I was careful with her. I measured my words. […] Lyndsey was beginning to come apart” (ll. 6-9). This shows how protective she is of her friend.

Despite this, the narrator is only a child and she does not manage to comfort Lyndsey in the way she wishes: 

I wanted to tell Lyndsey that none of this was her fault. I imagined myself waiting until the two of us were alone. I’d put an arm around her s...