Low Visibility

The short story Low Visibility written by Margaret Murphy is about a woman called Laura who is married to the very aggressive husband John. She lives her life in fear and violence, but instead of making resistance she chooses to appear invisible. The short story has a third person narrator.

Already in the first line of the short story we get a clear view of the characterisation of both John and Laura and how their marriage is: “John is watching TV, one hand on the remote control, the other on her thigh. She keeps very still.” It tells us that John is in total control. He has the control over Laura, and he is watching TV. Laura is not; she is just forced to be there because of her fear to John, but she accepts the situation by keeping still.
The narrator tells from both John and Laura's viewpoints and thoughts. You can tell by the characters’ thoughts of each other that there are no love between them.
Laura has not always been the invisible girl; her marriage with John has given her a new personality. “She wishes she could protest, but has forgotten how.
Every muscle in her body trembles with the effort of keeping still.” This quote shows that Laura really wants to protest against John’s opinion to the protest in TV, but she has forgotten how to do it.
A flashback shows us that Laura gradually have changed during their marriage. She did not notice that something was wrong with their relationship until at was too late. We do not know the actual reason why she got married to John, but at the beginning she thought that her personality would affect on John. But that never really happened - he did not change at all. And the opposite actually happened to them. John’s mood and the treatment of her removed all the happiness out of her so she feels like she is worth nothing.
“She allows herself to float away, imagines she is a million particles of matter that can simply disperse.” The quote describes how she escapes from the reality by dreaming away to calm and silent places. The fact that she imagines herself as being a million particles shows that she wants to be invisible and camouflaged with the particles in the air, when John is being cruel to her.
They are watching the demonstration on the news “The news is on – always a serious business, but tonight it is momentous.” The news is momentous because the demonstration is a symbol of Laura’s feelings. Laura wishes that she could protest like the people in the demonstration, but has given up all hope.
When John walks into the riots, the first sign of Laura stepping into character is shown: “"Don't." The sound of her voice startles her. She hasn't spoken a word of command in four years.” The sound of her own commanding voice surprises her and now we are about to see a change to Laura again. Laura considers helping John - not because she cares about him, but because she is afraid of what he will do to her, if she does not react in that certain way “She should have gone with him. Should have persuaded him to stay. Should somehow have stopped all of this happening. She will be blamed.”

In the end of the short story, Laura is facing her biggest fear, which is leaving John. The fact that she does not throw the brick at him shows that she is a stronger person than he is because she can act without violence. She finally finds out that she is worth more than the terrible marriage he kept her chained to. When she leaves him, he is the one lying wounded in the streets while she walks away unharmed. Their positions in the marriage have changed and suddenly she is the one in control.
The end of the short story is open because we are not told, what will happen to Laura, after she leaves John. We know that Laura has changed back from the low visible woman to a joyful woman in control: “She turns and walks away. Anger will come later: for now she feels light, unburdened.”