Introduction.
What would be your first thought if your dad choose his own work instead of your love? It would not be nice if the only reason to your presence was to carry out your father’s work, would it? This is exactly what happens for Pangma-La in the short story “The Shining Mountain” written by Alison Fell, from 1992.
The father and
The father is a famous mountaineer who is always on television (page 50 line16) and it is the father that has given Pangma-la the strange name; Pangma-la after The Shining Mountain, so she will stand tall and proud. The father said to her that one day they would climb the mountain ”Pangma-La” together. page 50 line15. The father had many expectations of Pangma-La. He decided what Pangmla-La had to do and what not to do. Such as: page 51, line 23-24 “And he made Pangma-La promise, that she would speak to no one, no matter what they asked or what help they offered” Pangma-la had also promised never to disappoint him page 50, line 20 so she tried to fulfill all of his expiations, but there were too many. When they where climbing the mountain, the going for Pangma-La was too hard, but she was willing to lie and give her heavy rucksack to a Sherpa woman on no matter the cost, just so the father would not get disappointed. Page 51 line 26-31 It is as though Pangma-la lived for her father, and she did not have dreams of her own, because she was so fixated about what her father wanted her to do that she acted like a totally different person. Pangma-la just did what her father required, and she did not have any influence on her father’s expectations at all. You get the feeling that the father wanted Pangma-la to be a mountaineer just like himself, and that it was Pangma-la’s destiny to be a mountaineer after she has been given that name, without the father taking into account of Pangma-la’s own dreams and aspirations.

Pangma-La
She is a shy girl. She is a Scottish girl with a strange name page (50 line 1) therefore she is teased a lot in school.

She is getting bullied in school, and her name gives her a hard time.
She is afraid to dissapoint her father, and she is trying to live up with him.
She don't want to be a mountaineer like her dad.

The message
The message in the story is that you have to follow your own heart. It is your own life you are living and you have to do things you want to do and not what someone else want you to do. Otherwise you will regret it in the end. Don't be afraid to be yourself, because in the end, people like/love you for the way you really are.
When you are writing the story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen.

Sitater
The main character in the text is a young girl with a strange name which is Pangma-la. The meaning of the name is ‘The shining mountain’. And because of strange name for a Scottish girl she gets teased by the other kids in school. Which naturally hurts her feelings and makes her cry but her father scolds at her if she does. So she stops crying despite the truth that she is sad. Pangma-la always turns very happy when her father gives her credit for something that she has done or compliments her.

“Let her be, she’s tough and hard as nails,” and Pangma-la was proud.” (p. 19 l.9-10”
Getting this recognition from the father means the world to her. She can’t even answer a question without considering what the father would feel and think about it.

“”let me carry your heavy sack, daughter,” said the woman, but Pangma-la shook her head, for she was afraid that her father would be disappointed in her.” (p. 20 l.3-5)

Basically all her actions are based on how she believes it would affect her father’s thoughts of her. Even if it means she has to put herself through pain to be ‘good enough’ in his eyes as seen in the quotation above. The father who is a famous mountaineer is very strict and has a lot of expectations to his daughter way back to her birth where he chose to name her after The Shining Mountain.

“I called you after a shining mountain so that you would stand tall and be proud”
Not only did he name her after a mountain but he has also decided for her that she would climb the mountain together one day. He hasn’t asked her if it was something that she felt like doing. He just expected her to want the same as him and have the same ambitions and goals. So what he has done is basically chosen her path. He’s therefore very narrow- minded and ego-centric..

But Pangma-La is used to it she doesn’t question if it iS too much to ask for, which it clearly is. The father’s expectations to his daughter are enormous. But Pangma-La who sees her father as her idol can’t bear to disappoint him. And she climbs the mountain with him and pushes herself as always to achieve his respect and just to be with him.
The father does not know how to show human feelings towards others. He is also very arrogant. For example against the Sherpa men when he doesn’t want to let them carry their bags and he says that he doesn’t believe in their belief.

The father’s character is the one that develops the most. The father starts out as a really bad dad who doesn’t care much about his daughter as an individual but as a part of himself. When Pangma-La then turns into a swan because she has given the old Sherpa woman who turns out to be the mountain goddess all her things which includes her soul and heart at last then the father realizes what he has done, how far he has pushed her and how much she has done to satisfy him.
At that point he shows feelings and regret.

One night Pangma-la dreams that she is a white swan flying above the shining mountain. She is tired and wants to land on the mountain and take a break but it turns its back on her and tells her that she can’t have a break and that she shall fly till her wings freeze and she will fall down and hit the ground.

The dream could possibly symbolize that Pangma-la is the swan and her father is the mountain. She is trying her best to accomplish the task that she has been given. She just wants to reach the top so that she can have a break from trying to impress her father. But it doesn’t matter to the father that she is tired. Her effort and work to get to the top of the mountain isn’t enough. He therefor turns his back to her so that she has to continue flying. It is his way to make her stronger. But what he doesn’t know is that she feels alone and that she sees no other option than to break down, hit the ground and fail.