Prospect House

Some people have more difficulties finding their spot in life. They are having a hard time finding out who they are and what they are supposed to do with life. The majority of them are usually kids who have had a pretty hard childhood. That is the stereotype of the residents of a prospect house. That is what the narrator, Kim, is like in Prospect House by Frances Childs. She has a rough time finding her place in society and she is working hard to get her life back on track.

The story takes place in Winchester, south of England, and it could have been written today. It is a first person narrator, and we see that already from the beginning: (line 1) “When I first arrived at Prospect House […]” It only gives us her point of view. We see the world through her eyes and it forces us to take her side and feel sympathy for her.

Kim is a girl in her late teens who probably has had a rough childhood in London, and that might make her think she is stronger than everybody else: (lines 2-4) “I’d come from London you see, the city. I might think I was harder than them, might want to throw my weight around.” and yet she is terrible at fighting (line 139). Before she came to the prospect house she did not look out for herself, for instance, she got hep B and a STD from a guy she does not even remember the name of (lines 7-9), and she did not care that she got fired from her job at a home for deprived children. She actually found it funny because she saw herself more as a kid at that time (lines 14-15). She is a loner, and I believe she thought it was a relief the other kids were fearing her when she was yellow and because of the hep B, which made her want to check how much she could get away with without getting beaten up by the other girls. She actually does not like girls her age, she likes people older than her, because they are much nicer and kinder, and will not make fun of her, if she is doing something wrong (lines 97-98)

She has always wanted to act and she is ecstatic about the part because she thinks the character, Abigail, and her are much alike. They are both “motherless, seething with desire, pushed into a world that cannot accommodate” them, but there are also some qualities of Abigail that she wishes to have and therefore she admires her. Abigail “makes her own magic, she who will have what she wants, who will break all the rules”, (Lines 106-108). She wants to be independent; she wants to make it far without any help. They are both alone in the world. They both have all the freedom in the world, but neither of them do not know how to use it properly. She is very passionate about the part and since she went to the audition, she works hard to get her life back on track. Acting is her way out of the darkness. It is an eye-opener and she is thirsty for more. Before the audition she went to visit her friend, who was transferred to Sussex house, because she was pregnant (lines 19-20), but after the audition, she is pretty sure she will not visit Di if she is getting transferred to Sussex house (lines 122-124).

Di and Andrea, her friends at Prospect House are very much alike. They are both “social losers”. It sounds like they have lived there for a long time and are looking for something new to happen, because they want to go to Sussex House, because they know they will get an apartment in the end (lines 61-62). It is like they are one person split up in two people. They have this special bond. They have even had sex with the same guy (line 55). They act very childish because they do not take any responsibility, for instance they think violent is the solution to a disagreement (lines 29-31) and (lines 140-141). I feel like they are dropouts because of their language. There are some words they do not know and they sometimes get the grammar wrong, like (lines 114-116) “’How did your thing go?’ Andrea asks when I get in. ‘Audition,’ I say. “Yeah, whatever, how did it go?’” and “’Yeah you was all yellow and wouldn’t speak to no one’” (line 85).
There is no doubt the three of them are good friends, but we get the feeling Di and Andrea are closer because they are so much alike, but they will have each other’s back no matter what. Even if they are not there in the exact moment, they are still there for each other and support each other (lines 138-147)

Andrea, Di and Kim love to hate their project worker, Linda. She is annoying, comes around in the morning and yell at them to get them out of bed, but they love her: “I don’t think we’d be very happy if she didn’t bother to tell us off”, (Lines 41-42). She is the mother figure they never had.

It is hard feeling misplaced. When you feel as if you do not belong anywhere. You will probably shut everyone out of your life because you are scared of getting hurt, just like Kim. Kim gets an eye-opener and is dedicated to get to a better place in life. That is a tough thing to do, but it is worth it. That is what all people should do even though they are having a rough time. They should hang in there and work their butts off because hard work pays off, and you will proudly get there some day,