There are often some huge problems by judging other people way to handle difficult times. In the short story “Land of the lost” by Stewart O´Nans we land in the middle of the main characters life, which is basically build up by the judgment of her surroundings. Like millions of people her life has reach a part where it has taken a descending track. She has lost almost everything of value. She lives alone with a dog and has a pointless job without any meaning to her at all. But who has not tried that? People are so often trying to evaluate how the man next door lives his life and then compare it with their own. But who gives us the right to be judgmental about how people live their lives and what they believe in?

The main character works as cashier at a market called BI-LO in Perry. From the start we get the picture of a woman with a very low social status. Because of her ruined marriage and the separation with her two sons she is tied up by a closed case about a murder. Her low status at work causes correction of her behavior at work because of her ongoing discussion about the murder with the co-workers and customers. “…Discussing it with her co-workers and customers – so much so that her manager had to ask her to stop” (p. 8. ll. 4-5). Her low status at the job does also have an effect on her private live because she feels very surplus in the world. The main character see herself as something dispensable, and her sole companion is her one and only dog Ollie. With Ollie as her only close friend she does not really feel attached to anybody. “…One else needed her. Just Ollie” (p. 9. ll. 62). She is in many ways social lost and dysfunctional in society. This could be one of the main reasons why the murder case and finding the dead girl absorb her so much. She is so caught up by the case because she follows it from its beginning. She starts taking notes and