dAbduction by Shelagh Delaney
It’s normal that siblings have some sort of competition going on, where the winner gets love and respect from the parents, while the “loser” gets yelled at. This is why we sometimes hate our siblings, but at the end of the day, we know that we don’t want to live without having our siblings in our lives, and that we in the end, would do anything for them, because it’s our precious family and the best we ever had.
The story “Abduction” is a short story by Shelagh Delaney. The story starts in media res and takes place in London, where Ann lives. In the beginning the story is described and told by a 1st. person narrator, which later changes into a 3rd. person narrator, who is a limited narrator but with knowledge of the people, we meet in the story. Even though the narrator technique changes, it seems to be the same person who is telling the story. Most likely it is an older brother, because he says: “our parents´ marriage,” (L. 35). He is going to London from Manchester, it might be because he´s going to the brother’s funeral. He also knows a lot about his sister, such as she was sterilized, when she was a younger woman.
The relationship between Ann and her little brother is strange. Ann takes her brother to London, because she thinks she can give him a better life and a better future, than their parents can. Of course the brother goes with her sister. He is still young and thinks his clever and successful sister has all the answers about life. The text obviously indicates that she is rich and therefore gives him a generous allowance. Ann is overprotecting and spoils him. When Marianne says to Ann’s brother: “Are you sure you’re not really her baby?”(L. 81-82) then I think, it could be right, even though the brother says that it isn’t possible.
The younger brother is a sixteen-year old boy in the beginning,