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Crossing Essay

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Crossing

‘Crossing’ is a short story published in 2009, by Mark Slouka. We are introduced to a depressed father, who takes his son on a trip, in the hope of achieving a stronger relationship with his son. The father appears to be very attached to his previous/past experiences with his own father, and in that context a theme such as the relationship between father and son can be related/connected to the text.

The story is told from a 3rd person limited narrator. The limited view is seen by the author’s attachment to the main character, who is the father. The story is described through the father’s point-of-view, which can be seen by the big insight the reader is given, on the father’s thoughts and feelings, during the story. The narrator use ‘he’ in relation to the father, which clarifies that it is a 3rd person narrator. The narrative technique contributes to create a personal impression of the father, and creates a relationship between the reader and main character because of the knowledge that readers are given during the story.
“For some reason it made him happy, and he hadn’t been happy for a while” The techniques also force the reader to feel compassion for the father, because we know his thoughts and feelings. The readers do not get an insight on the son’s thoughts and feelings, and we do not know what his attitude towards the situation is, therefor it creates a distant relationship between the son and reader. Another narrative technique, that contributes to create distance to the son, it the narrative mode of description. The short story contains many descriptions during their event, and the narrative mode is very observing and describing “When the boy walked back to he car, he swung the door open for him, then reached over and pulled the door shut, and bumped out on the empty road..”. .
The short story consists of indirect speech where it appears

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