Red from green - essay
Sam Turner is the main character in the novel and the story takes place in the summertime. Sam is fifteen years old and in the fall she is a sophomore. Her father and her lives in Montana and every summer they take a four-day float trip down the river. This year Sam’s uncle, Harry and a client, called Layton from Harrys law firm, is with them. Layton is younger than Harry, and he often carries a gun with him. There is a lot of sun on the trip, and the environment is rural and there is a lot of fresh air. The group lives in tents and some nights they make a bonfire and sits there. Layton and Sam spends a lot time together alone, while Sam’s father and Harry often have to fix something like, driving the empty trucks down the river. Layton compliments Sam a lot an example is the episode where he says she has perfect teeth. Its embarrassing her, but she doesn’t think of him like she thinks of other grownups like Harry. A day where Sam and Layton is alone again they go shooting, Sam has never tried to shoot, but she is pretty good at it and she feels proud after. Layton is also very impressed. But then an evening, Layton complains about his back, and want’s someone to walk on it, but the only person who is light enough is Sam, and her father doesn’t say anything when Layton asks Sam. In the meantime Sam’s father decides to go to bed, and leaves Sam and Layton alone again. Sam is not really happy about this and she is a little bit nervous I think, but she doesn’t say anything. Sam steps up on Layton’s back and he tells her how to walk forward and back on it, then he asks her to kneel with her knees between his shoulder blades. She does it, but then he tough her hip to correct her position, and she straightens, but he doesn’t remove his hand. After a minute his hand slips under the back of her thigh, she moves away, but then his hand moves and he touches her between her legs. She begins to stand up, but he tells her to stay and he rolls over facing her and lets his hand touch her again, but she pulls away again and this time he let her go. She has never seen a man look the way Layton did, when he touched her. She has never tried this before I think and it is like Layton has taking her innocence and virginity by touching her this way, in spite of she tried to pull away twice and they didn’t really had sex.

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Red from green - essay 07-06-2013

Jacqueline Döpping Risskov gymnasium 1.e

The next morning the whole group goes out driving, but when they come back Sam decides to accept the scholarship, that has been offered her. She is accepting this despite her father has looked dismayed every time she took the subject up. After a week she tells her father that she has accepted the scholarship, but he only say that he will miss her. She wants to ask him why he left her the night at the campfire, but she decides not to. She tells herself that it isn’t his fault, and he didn’t wanted it to happen, she doubts again but decides again not to say anything. Her father and her aren’t talking that much to each other, and a lot is unsaid, which is hard for Sam and their relationship I think. I think her decision is characterized by a little bit of revenge, because she after the episode, with Layton decides to go. Maybe she is also trying to run away from this episode, because it maybe has changed her and she is in shock. A last reason could be that she has gowned up, and is ready to leave her father. I think the main theme is the development, from girl to woman. Sam is starting to act older, through the story. When she decides to try to shoot and defies her father, she knows he wouldn’t approve it, but she does it anyway, she becomes less innocent. Then there is the episode with Layton and her, here she also feels something new and its here she looses her “virginity” in spite of she tries to pull away and she doesn’t have sex with Layton. These two things is resulting that she now can let go of her father and she decides to leave him. She is now kind of independent and she is not the innocent girl anymore. The title red from green confirms that she has gone from girl to woman, if you see on the symbolism of the colours in it. Because the colour green symbolizes youth while the colour red symbolizes something sensual, which connects with woman. So you can also read the title, woman from girl.