A Gap of Sky

Youth is often associated with freedom, exploration, desire, and choices which concern the future of the individual. Being young is not always easy. The parents are now in the background and, therefore, young people enjoy the freedom which comes with the parents’ withdrawal. Although, having fun and being free is part of youth, there are responsibilities and expectations, and these must not be neglected. Though real freedom and responsibilities go together.
The short story ‘A Gap of Sky’ by Anna Hope deals with issues which may be associated with being young in a big city trapped in an environment where drugs and “freedom” without responsibility are part of everyday life.

The main character, Ellie, wakes up on a Monday afternoon realizing that she has to write an essay for the next day. She has been out all night, high on drugs and alcohol, and she is close to being kicked out of the university that she attends. In the short story Ellie goes through a mental journey, and the outcome of this is a new Ellie who doesn’t take everything for granted, and she realizes that life has so much to give her if she gives something back. Ellie is 19 years old and lives in the heart of London. She might live at a college as she has to walk down a corridor to get to the toilet. She studies at a university even though she doesn’t take it seriously. It was her parents who made her attend, and she has already had an extension. She doesn’t do her schoolwork and the past year of university feels like “sludge”, “… like thick dark sludge in her brain.” This might be a result of her drug usage. She has ended up in a bad environment, in which ‘boozing’, partying, and drugs are everyday life. The short story is written as a 3rd person narrative. The point of view is limited to Ellie, and the text describes Ellie’s thoughts. This narrative technique makes the reader come close to Ellie’s personality and her feelings. When she feels stressed, the reader also feels stressed. It is like being in her head knowing all her thoughts. “Good plan. Good, this was good, fine. Coffee plunged, poured, slurped; hot, fuck that’s hot. Anything else? Of course: printer, printer´s out of ink. Student shop too. Fine. Time? Ten minutes to get there. Shit.” This quotation gives the reader an insight into Ellie’s mind. The language and choice of words indicate that Ellie is a teenager. There are a lot of slang and swear words, which makes the reader enter Ellie’s life.

There is a lot of symbolism in the short story. On Ellie’s way through London she sees a leather glove left on top of a spike with its middle finger pointing up. The glove symbolizes Ellie’s “dark side”. She interprets the glove as a symbol of giving the finger to authority, society’s expectations, and rules. Ellie decides to say, “fuck” to Virginia Woolf (education) and instead she follows two South American-looking men to the British museum, after all “…she’s never been in there before, so why not?” However as soon as she listens to her ‘dark side’ she is punished by a higher power. She has misinterpreted the black leather glove and she becomes aware of a “throbbing in her skull.
Suddenly she sees a gap of sky. There is still hope. That day the sky had been cloudy just like Ellie’s life, but the little gap, which allows the sun to shine through, ‘tells’ Ellie that there is hope. Even though her life has been messed up until now, she can still get it back on track. ‘Freedom’ is a word that is repeated many times through the text. Freedom is what Ellie searches and longs for. When she is partying with her friends, drinking, and doing drugs, she feels free. Drugs take her to another ‘universe’. She feels relaxed and all expectations and responsibilities fade away. Suddenly the busy city is gone for a while. “… thinking she was in a barn somewhere, a beautiful spacious lightfilled barn and not actually in London at all.” “… she didn’t want the night to end.” This is also an example of her joy of nature. Nature elements are mentioned a lot of times in the short story. Nature is associated with freedom. Ellie feels free when she isn’t part of the busy life in London. Everyone has goals and expectations for themselves and others, exactly as Ellie’s parents had expectations for Ellie when they made her attend university. Though Ellie has difficulties coping with these “rules”. The river is an element which draws her attention. Ellie characterizes the river as wide, and it washes her feelings clean. This is what she needs, and when she looks at the river, she feels better. Even though the busy city life has had a bad influence on Ellie, she ends op discovering that London has so much else to offer. The city is full of love and happiness, and she realizes this as when she thinks of her mother. She is suddenly filled with love for her mother and the rest of the world. In a way she wakes up from a dream. She discovers that all the people she sees are connected with one another with a bond of love and happiness. Life seems meaningful, and Ellie finds her inner strength. She is aware that her life can become fantastic. She has now realized the importance of writing the essay. She knows it is a good thing. Love and responsibility will give her much more freedom than drugs and alcohol.

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Hope, Anna, A Gap og Sky, 2008, A, p. 3, l. 49
[ 2 ]. Ibid, p. 2 ll. 34-36
[ 3 ]. Ibid, p. 3 l. 75
[ 4 ]. Ibid, p. 2 ll. 22-23
[ 5 ]. Page 3, p. 2 ll. 70-71