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Pool

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Essay about "Pool" by Corey Campbell
We've all tried to be in that kind of relationship which didn't really fitted us, growth us or made us happy. Where the relationship was going okay, but never really was enough. The insecurity in the relationship affects the persons in it, and truly gives a lower self-esteem. It makes the person insecure and at the same time it brings a lot of frustration, and the relationship is never really able to make anybody happy. In the short story "Pool" from 2009, we here about a young couple named Darla and Jon, who is at pool party at their friends' house named Mandy and Trevor. The day before Darla and Jon had a accident in bed and out of fear they went to the pharmacy to get a morning-after pill. Even though they chose not to talk about it, the whole episode affects Darla's experience of their visit at Mandy and Trevor's. Darla is acting irritated at Jon, and it seems like Jon doesn't take the accident yesterday seriously.
Darla finds out the two couples live totally different lifestyles and that she would have a tough time living like Mandy, only focusing on being a mommy.
The others in the pool try hard to get Darla in there with them, but she uses the excuse that she hasn't brought any swimsuit. At last she's borrowing a swimsuit from Mandy. Here Trevor tells Darla that he knows about the morning-after pill and he makes approach to Darla.
They talk about his marriage and that it's not all love and harmony, and afterwards Darla takes off her clothes in front of him, to switch to the swimsuit.
We see how Darla has a hard time dealing with her relationship, and how she tries to figure out what to do about, how she's insecure and that the relationship with Jon is not fitting her growing her or making her happy.
Characterize of Darla
Darla is the main character of the story and is a woman who has a hard time identifying who she is and who she wants to be. She is in a relationship with a guy named Jon who is old school mates with Trevor who has a wife named Mandy. She is very confused about what's going on between her and Jon, but still she thinks that it's not going to be a relationship who will last. This affects Darla in a very negative way and we see how she's very insecure and modest: ””A little later,” she said, knowing that she wouldn’t, that she hated others seeing her in her swimsuit.” (ll. 60-62)
She's nervous and doesn't feel at home at Mandy and Trevor's, and you clearly see how she's from a different environment. She feels better than the others, she mentions how her boyfriend Jon brought her to an expensive restaurant, which she means is out of his league. She is very concerned about her weight and what she eats if it's chemical or ecologies and is also judging what Trevor and Mandy has in the kitchen: ”She thought of the bright packages as bags of chemicals, pre- serving each other, as though they were something worth pre- serving”. (ll. 68-70)

Because of the accident earlier we also see that Darla is quit affected by the incident. She seems insecure if she chose the right decision about taking the morning-after pill. She is walking around in Mandy and Trevor's house and counting all the photos they have, hanging on the wall, of their child (ll. 1-4). Later we see an episode were she's also showing how she's constantly focusing on her stomach and what could have been: ”Darla touched her middle, which felt like a void, which felt like static or white noise.”(ll. 42)
But at the same time she's sure that she wouldn't be a good mother: ””I’d be horrible at it. I’d probably start drinking. I know I would.”” (l. 80) “She’d heard about it from friends (…) It always sounded im- possible to her.” (ll.160-163)
The relationship
The relationship between Jon and Darla isn't a very healthy relationship. They're not on the same page and they do clearly not agree about where the relationship is going. Jon and his family are trying very hard (l. 10) and Darla has already given up and doesn't seem to want anything from the relationship or want it to last: ”What she liked best about him, Darla had realized earlier in the car, was that it wasn’t going to last, so she didn’t have to care that much really.” (ll. 11-13)
She doesn't have anything lovely to say about Jon either like she has about Trevor. With Jon it's just his hairy legs. (l.56). And when Jon is trying to comfort her she just gets irritated (ll.48-53 & 100-101).
Also after the accident with the condom they handle the situation different. Darla feels like Jon isn't supporting him (ll. 139-141) and they just ignore the subject which shows they have a communicating problem: ”When she came back, they both pretended everything was normal, and turned up the radio loud once they hit the free- way”. (ll. 21-22)

Main themes
There is a lot of big themes in the short story it's both about finding yourself, fake love, jealousy, different masks and honesty & trust. For me the biggest main theme is about difficult relationships and trying to fit in and change yourself to be what others expect. We see how Darla always tries to get to know how it is to have a life like Mandy and Trevor with children and marriage, and we also see how she really don't think she would fit into that role. She tries, but it just doesn't work and therefore she feels shy like something is wrong with her, because she doesn't want the relationship with Jon and because she's not sure about having kids.
Setting
They're at a pool party at their friends house, Mandy and Trevor. It's a hot day so they are bathing and are getting some really nice food.
The ending
In the end Darla takes off her clothes in front of Trevor like she is trying on a new role by putting on Mandy's bathing suit, and maybe she kind of at the end tries to accept that she is not like them. She doesn't fit in as mom or in a relationship with Jon. She knows the bathing suit is too big for her and do not fit, again a symbol of that she doesn't belong, but she doesn't really care anymore, because she knows she's not like them. She accepts it and doesn't feel the pressure of what other thinks of her anymore. She finds herself.

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