Characterization of the youth with freedom

Youth is often characterized by life, desire and a feeling of freedom and invincibility. It is in youth a person truly provides background for what the personality of the person concerned contains and how it develops according to peer relationships and a person’s inner self, and therefore the youth is a vital part of life, but being young is not always as easy as it sounds because even though freedom is within reach, responsibility and expectations are right behind you, reminding you of reality. It is different from person to person how this feeling of freedom is attained; some people like to go out in nature to open their minds, and some do drugs to escape from reality. This is also the case in the short story A Gap of Sky by Anna Hope from 2008 that deals with the issues of drugs, freedom and reflection.

Ellie is a nineteen year old teenager who lives in the heart of London. She is a student at an unknown university, and it appears that she lives at a college because she in the beginning of the short story has to walk all the way down the corridor to get to the hall toilet. Ellie is not taking her education very seriously and she even blames her parents that she is doing what she calls “this bloody course”(p. 2, l.66). Furthermore, Ellie is doing drugs, smoking a crack pipe etc. and skips lectures because she stays up late and parties.

The short story is told with third person narration and takes place at her place and in the streets of London; an urban setting. Though the short story is told with third person narration, we follow Ellie’s point of view and her thoughts. Therefore the language is predominantly influenced by the vocabulary of a nineteen year old, which is to be seen in the text where it says

Coffee plunged, poured, slurped; hot, fuck that’s hot. Anything else? Of course: printer, printer’s out of ink. Student shop too. Fine. Time? Ten minutes to get there. Shit. (p. 1, ll. 35-36)

This quote gives the reader an insight in the mind of Ellie. We are almost literally in her head, reading her thoughts. Throughout the short story it is clear that Ellie is tired of education, things she has to do and expectations. She knows that she has to write the essay in order to stay on the course, but she is not quite sure for whom she is doing it. Her life seem to be an eternal search for freedom, and it is exactly the word “freedom” that is repeated through the story. She knows that there is more to life than studies, duties and to comply with expectations and demands. Drugs, cigarettes and booze are greatly preferred when it comes to living her life to its fullest and to attain the feeling of freedom.

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According to the title A Gap of Sky it is noticeable that it refers physically to the gap of sky she discovers on her walk through London to find some ink for her printer. She notices it because it is an emptiness in the middle of the city; an emptiness she possibly feel inside. On the other hand, A Gap of Sky is also likely to refer to the fact that she is in her teenage; a time to feel free and to experience how great life can be.

In the middle of the chaos she finds relief and support in drugs and parties and that expresses her sort of gap; a place to be herself. The sky above us is out of time and space and is something intangible which we as humans only can dream about, and that is what Ellie does. She likes to forget time and just live her life

There is a clock hanging above one of the buildings. (…) What a strange and funny thing it is, slicing the day, serving it up (…). (p. 4, ll. 122-124)

In the end, Ellie is walking in the city, trying to find some ink, when she sees a river. She walks through a gap to have a better look towards it. This might symbolizes her way through life; right now she is placed in a gap but right ahead is her reflection, right there in the water, a time to find out who she really is. Though she likes the feeling that she gets when she is taking an euphoriant she knows what she has to do; “a good thing and the right thing to do” (p. 4, l. 132) in order to get out of the symbolic gap she is in the middle of.

Text 4 named Consequences of youth substance abuse deals with the issues of young people who abuse substances. It is written by Anne H. Crowe in 1998 and is a summary of Drug Identification and Testing in the Juvenile Justice System. It states that young people who continually abuse substances will face serious consequences in the form of social, mental and academic disabilities for example. In the short story Ellie is abusing substances and according to the US Department this will have consequences sooner or later in life. When entering the British Museum Ellie’s head throbs intensively after a night with booze and drugs, which gives the thought that it probably is right according to consequences.

Picture 1 Frances – Reflection in water by Clarissa Leahy, a photograph from 2008, pictures a young woman, most likely a teenager, who stands in the middle of nowhere looking at her own reflection. She is not wearing any clothes, except for what might be a bathing suit, that tell anything about her person and this leads the thoughts back to the short story where Ellie is looking towards the river. The picture is a strong symbolization in relation to Ellie’s search for her own reflection.

B

The urban setting in A Gap of Sky plays a great role. The whole story is turned on the setting in London where noise, tall buildings and diametrically opposite districts is to be found. Ellie lives in the middle of all this and it is obvious that it has an impact on her. She is in contact with drug peddling or at least she knows people that are, which is not unusual in urban settings. On the other hand, urban setting also gives several opportunities to discover great things and to get inspiration you never thought was possible. For an example, Ellie visits the British Museum on her way which gives occasion for philosophical thoughts concerning life and death. Ellie seem to like the urban setting she lives in, exactly because she is constantly inspired

There are people moving together, here in this part of London, moving with purpose, with meaning, and Ellie is one of them. (p. 2, ll. 57-58)

Another example is when she stops at Russell Square; she discovers a glove that is put down over the top of one of the spikes, which is a catalyst for several thoughts and a feeling of possibility and delight that suddenly strikes her.

In 1903 Claude Monet painted an oil painting called Waterloo Bridge that pictures a beautiful and idyllic bridge crossing what seems to be a river. The bridge is conspicuous and is painted in light colours in contrast to the surroundings that are muddy and dimmed. On closer inspection you see an urban setting in the background with tall buildings and smog. In the foreground water passes by in contrast to the busy background, separated by the bridge as the centre. Compared to the urban setting in the short story it is also a river that separates Ellie from the busy urban life and the reflection of herself. In both the short story and the oil painting water is used as a symbol of peace and reflection, and is very contrary to urban setting.