Loose Change - Karakter: 10 PDF

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God aflevering...

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Loose Change - Andrea Levy The short story Loose Change by Andrea Levy is about a woman - the narrator who is helped out by another foreign woman from Uzbekistan. The narrator was asking for some change to the tampon machine because her period had caught her unprepared 2 days earlier than she expected. While all the ´Londoners´ in the National Portrait Gallery was leaving the building, the foreign woman - Laylor - was standing kind with a bunch of coppers she could loan. The narrator wants to give her back the money for her benevolence and invites her for a cuppa even though she doesn’t fancy talking with strangers. As soon as Laylor speaks, the narrator assumes she is an immigrant from Spain because of her different accent. As soon as they arrive at the café, they suddenly meet Laylors native brother. As Laylors brother was leaving and the conversation between the two women was developing, she was told by Laylor that she and her brother are refugees from Uzbekistan. After the narrator learns of Laylors situation, she immediately sees different in Laylor than before. Although the narrator was wondering how she could help Laylor and her brother, remembering her grandmother, who stood in the same situation when she was a refugee from Caribbean, she leaves the café alone.

Characterization of the narrator Based on my notes I will describe the narrator as a bit arrogant in the matter of fact that we already in the start of the short story sees that she describes herself as “a Londoner” whereas she says that not even little grey-haired old ladies passing comment on the weather can shame a response from me (P. 1 L. 1-2). I will also describe her as a bit impolite, which can be substantiated in the correlation where the foreign girl in benevolence offered her coppers and she just replied ´is that all you’ve got´ (P. 1 L. 27). However, I will also describe her as some sort of kind-hearted the matter of fact she also has moments of vulnerability when she meets Laylor. When the narrator emerged from the cubicle the girl and her handful of change were gone. She found her again staring at a portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. The fact that she approached her about the money describes a responsible and kind-hearted attitude. I approached her about the money but she just said, This is good picture. (P. 1 L. 37-38).

Even though the narrator describes herself as a person who is not in the habit of making friends of strangers, Laylors mysterious attitude makes her more open and she had to show her a portrait, which she meant was worthwhile. As I mentioned before, I'm not in the habit of making friends of strangers, but there was something about this girl.  (P. 2 L. 47-48); I took this fraternisation as defeat, but I had to introduce her to a better portrait.  (P. 2 L. 5254). The narrator is quite uncomfortable when Laylor laughed out loud because of the Germaine Greer portrait. Laylor couldn't keep her voice down and people were beginning to watch us. I wanted to be released from my obligation. Look, let me buy us both a cup of tea,  I said. Then I can give you back your money.  However, when Laylor had talked with her native brother in the café, and the narrator has been told that Laylor and her brother were refugees from Uzbekistan, she immediately saw Laylor from a different perspective, she began focussing on the charmless aspects of her. She'd lost a tooth.  I noticed the 140 ugly gap when she smiled at me saying, 'I love London.' (P. 4 L. 139-140);  She had sought me out - sifted me from the crowd. This young woman was desperate for help. She'd even cunningly made me obliged to her. (P. 4 L. 141-143). After the statement by Laylor, the narrator sorts of criticizes Laylor for her being made obliged to Laylor as you can see in the quote. And she ends up leaving the café without Laylor even though she remembered her grandmother survived the immigration from Caribbean to London by benevolence from strangers. When my grandma first came to England from the Caribbean she lived through days as lonely and cold as an open grave. The story she told all her grandchildren was about the stranger who woke her while she was sleeping in a doorway and offered her a warm bed for the night. It was this act of benevolence that kept my grandmother alive. (P. 5 L. 165-168)....