Analysis of the short story ‘Accident’
‘Accident’ is a short story written by Molly Giles in 2012.
The story takes place in Siloam Springs, Arkansas in August. Arkansas is a state in the US and is placed in the bible belt. The bible belt refers to an area in the southeastern United States where
Christianity is deeply embedded in everyday life and also in this story. The protagonist is far away from home (California, on the West Coast). It is a hot afternoon and our protagonists is on her way to the airport to pick up her friend, when all of a sudden she bumps in to another man’s car. Because she is already shaky do to a breakup, it shocks and affects her, more than it normally would have.
This story starts in medias res and has a first-person narrator; this means that the story is narrated by one character speaking for and about themselves: “He pressed my hand so firmly to his chest I could feel his heart thump against my palm” this quote shows the protagonist’s view of the situation. The story is written in the past tense, and is a flash back: “On my way to the airport I hit a
Christian. This was in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, on a hot afternoon last August.” In the story there are a lot of advanced words such as: errant and blasphemer.

“……I tried to tug my skirt down” this quote indicates the narrator is a girl, wearing a skirt is very unlikely for men. The narrator is broken hearted and she is sick of missing her ex-boyfriend:
“…….because Levon Helm was making me miss Jed and I was sick to death of missing Jed.” She had imagined a future together with him, and therefore it hurts that they broke up: “….two bluebirds that were supposed to be Jed and me forever.”
The protagonist is very impulsive and irrational. This is shown when she tells us that she threw away her cellphone because of her ex-boyfriend: “Why had I thrown away my good iPhone just because his voice was on it.” In this quote, we can see that she regrets her decision about tossing her phone away in anger. She has a temper.
She is very emotional especially when she thinks about Jed “…..why had I put his Levon Helm in the CD player instead of my own Otis Redding? I blinked back tears…” Obviously she is not over him yet.

She is disorganized and her car is a mess: “His eyes moved over the spill of cigarettes and makeup the impact had scattered across the front seat.” This could be a synonym for her life, her life is a mess too.
The protagonist is a very hip chick from California. She does not practice Christianity: “…lingered on an opened package of condoms lying on the floor.” Clearly she has premarital sex.
She is submissive: “I’d wanted to stop the canoe and take pictures but Jed wouldn’t let me.” She did what her boyfriend was telling her to do - even though she wanted to do differently.
Love is the main theme in this story. The love she used to have with Jed, the unhappy love she is left with now, because they broke up. There is the love she gets from the surroundings in Siloam
Springs. There is the love she feels for her friend, who is flying in only to comfort her.
Forgiveness is also an important element. Pastor Mike forgives her for hitting his truck. He does not blame her anything - and neither does the population in the city. They all treat her nicely - she even feels blessed when she leaves.
Love thy neighbor - Christianity is also a theme in this story. The population is very Christian.
They all take care of her, and make her feel comfortable, even though she was uncomfortable in the begging. The police makes sure she is okay: “I blinked back tears as the police officers radioed their dispatcher. “Y’all all right?....”
She tells us that she felt blessed after the meeting with Pastor Mike. I hope his blessings make her capable of moving on. I hope she can forgive her ex-boyfriend, for her own good, just like she was forgiven by Pastor Mike.