A Girl's Story by David Arnason Analysis

đź“ŚCategory: Literature
đź“ŚWords: 297
đź“ŚPages: 2
đź“ŚPublished: 06 February 2022

In the short story A Girl's Story, author David Arnason uses Postmodern characteristics like metafiction, reader involvement, and magical realism to emphasize the significance of fiction books.

Arnason uses metafiction to highlight the fact that the readers are currently reading a fictional story. "...and if that's [realism] what you're after, why are you reading a book?" (Arnason 4). This sentence explains Arnason's view towards fictional literacy. A fictional book or a short story lets readers shift out of their dull reality through its unrealistic plots. He is purposefully making it sound unreal.

Similarly, the reader involvement used in this story helps readers empathize with the protagonist. Arnason constantly uses a conversation-like style throughout the whole writing. This includes: "You probably don't think you're beautiful enough, but I can fix that" (Arnason 1). This quote demonstrates how he wants the readers to project themselves to Linda. He wants the readers to connect to how Linda thinks and feels.

Moreover, similar to how Arnason used metafiction to show his opinion on how fictional illusion can help readers drift away from their reality, he uses magic realism to highlight it even more. "Michael reeled his [fishing] line... discovered a diamond ring... he asked her [Linda] to marry him... she agreed" (Arnason 4). Despite the unrealism in this sentence, it doesn't seem too off since the readers naturally hope for a happy, romantic ending. Of course, sometimes being too unrealistic can be an image-breaker for some people, just like how the two protagonists' eternal kiss at the end seemed a bit too much. However, the illusionary atmosphere in this story accomplishes a warmth in the reader's heart, which is what Arnason is trying to do throughout the story.

In conclusion, David Arnason uses Postmodern elements to highlight the fairy-tale-like mood in a fictional book or a short story. They are intentionally created to fulfill the lack of emotional experience for the people who live in the modern world.

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