Delprøve 2 opgave B – How Lucky You Are

The main theme
I think that there is more than one theme in the story. There is the meeting with new cultures. Young people in the west have a lot more freedom than many others opportunities in other countries. They have the opportunity to get a education. They can literally do with their life, what they want. Another theme could be the teenage life. Max’ youth rebellion with the school and her mother, is typical for a life as a teenager. Max smokes, he truants from school, and he does not listen to his mom. The last theme in the story is young love. We see Max and Ishraqi fall in love.

Although that we see some different themes in the story, I think the main theme is that we should appreciate the things we have. That is the change the main character Max discovers. In the beginning of the story, Max argues with his mother. ‘’Just that morning he’d a huge row with his mum. She drove him crazy (..)’’. (Linie 128, page 11). After Max meeting with Ishraqi, Max view changes. He realizes how lucky he is to even have his mother. ‘’He thought about Ishraqi not knowing if her parents were alive or dead and resolved not to argue with his mum for once [...]” (Linie 71, page 12). Max is a 16 year old, teenage boy. He is a typical teenager, tired of school, smoke cigarettes, has negative approach to school, wear tight jeans and a hoodie.
He is studying on a special school, for creative kids. Max truants from school, and through the conversation with his friend Dan, it sounds like it isn’t the first time. ”You can’t bunk off,” he objected. “We’ve got a Maths assessment today.” Max shrugged. “Which, you twat, is the exact reason why I’m bunking off”.” (linie 28-30) Max is an introverted boy. He is not very aware of the world around him. It shows in the conversation with Ishraqi, where she tells about the world she comes from. He gets very surprised. Therefor he appears slightly uninformed and naive. ”Max was sixteen and focused inwards, unaware of anyone else unless they made a direct impact on him”. (linie 42-43).
Max also seems a little soft under the surface. Ishraqi is a young Iranian refugee. She fled from Iranian and has lived at another Iranian family since. She does not know anything about her own family, she doesn’t even know if they are alive. She is described as an unsure girl.
She goes to school in England, and is very motivated and eager on school. Compared to Max, she is very dutiful.
She is also very curious about the world around her. “Oh please, Alexsa. We would be careful. What could go wrong? If I stay here with you I will just be bored and worry about the appointment…” (linie 98-99).

Max relationship with his mother is characterized by the fact that Max is a rebellious teenager. They argue a lot, and Max feels that she is nagging him about homework and taking responsibility. The meeting with Ishraqi reminds Max that he should appreciate having his mother in his life, taking care of him. ”What if she disappeared and he didn’t know if he would ever see her again? The thought was too awful to contemplate”. (linie 130-131)
We also see that Max is very concerned about his mother, in connection with his father’s disappearance. ”I heard her crying every night for weeks after you left”. (linie 16).
The love between Max and his mother is clear in the end of the story, when the mother shows her understanding when she sees that Max is sad about something. ”When Max arrived home, his mother took one look at his face and bit off the angry lecture she had been preparing. Instead, she folded her son in her arms and waited for the time he would be ready to talk to her”. (linie 200-202). Max relationship with his father is very strained. About a year before the story takes place, Max father has left their family, to find himself. It is clear to see that Max has a lot of anger on his father, for just leaving him and his mother. When Max speaks about his father, his language is very rough. Max rebellious way to express himself, is connected with his anger to his father and his leaving. The setting
In the story Max sits against a wall and rolls cigarettes. We get an impression that Max has been here before. He knows who the usual people coming there is. On of the people he “knows”, is a guy with tattoos, a shaved head, and a vicious little dog. Although he still doesn’t know which building he is sitting up against. ”There was the usual bunch of people milling round outside the vast concrete and glass block looming up into the sky.” (linie 38- 39). This environment seems rough.
At home, where Max lives with his mother, it is otherwise than in the town. At home there is tea, and safe arms to hold him, and a quilt he can escape in.

How the story I structured
The story consists of a lot of different flashbacks. The story starts when all the events have happened, and the only thing Max has left, is the picture of Ishraqi. Then we hear about the episode, a year before the story takes place, where his father leaves, to go out and find himself. Then there is a flashback from the morning where Max choose to truant from school, and this is the part of the story where he meets Ishraqi. The story ends where it started, where Max goes home to his mother, after his day off school. The story is build after in medias res. By starting the story with telling that the only thing Max has left, is a picture of Ishraqi, the reader gets curious. The flashback back to the day when Max father left, is to show how important this experience was to Max.