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Red from Green

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RED FROM GREEN
The Short story Red from Green by Maile Meloy is about a fifteen year old girl named Sam Turner, who is on a four-day float trip with her father, her uncle and the uncle’s client, Layton, from his new law firm. At this trip Sam develops and discovers new things in the process of becoming an adult and to overcome the stage from being just a child.
The short story takes place in Montana, where the Turner family lives. The plot takes place at a river and the surrounding areas, where they stay for the night. “It is July, and hot, and the water was low” (p. 8, l. 2). The setting does on a symbolic level indicate the untamed nature, and the wild sides in the human. The floating river symbolizes how the actions in the plot just float, and they get grabbed by the atmosphere. It takes place in the summer, and Sam, who is the main character, stands in front of a very important decision. Her father had entered her to a boarding school for Sam’s sophomore year, and she got a scholarship offer. The mention of the topic makes them both feel uncomfortable. “… but neither of them could bring themselves to talk about it” (p. 8, l. 8-9) The father is a very caring parent. Sam’s mother is dead, which implies that the father had dismayed about it. Maybe it is because he feels he is going to lose her, or probably miss the chance of seeing her grow up to be an adult. He had openly applied because everyone thought it was a great idea because the fact is that it was a better opportunity for her, and it is much better than the local schools. The father is that kind of person, who would do anything for his daughter. Sam suspects him of quitting hunting after her mother died, because he maybe wants to take more care of her. (p. 9, l. 2)
Sam has just turned fifteen and she is in a stage between being child or adult. “She was awkward at fifteen, and praise made her suspicious.” (P. 8, l. 25) She does not know how to obtain compliments, and sure not compliments about her looks. She has always been ‘daddy’s girl’, “He gave her a chip and kissed her on the forehead,” (p. 11, l. 2-3), therefor it is an uncommon situation for her to get attention from other adults - male-adults especially. She felt the new kind of attention attractive even though she does not know what it means. She wanted Layton to show up and give her more, but deep inside she could not describe the real feeling (p. 9, l. 64-65). She is on her way to discover her sexuality – a move on the way of becoming an adult. Layton has given her a different attention than other males. Not only verbal attention, but he also gives her a ‘touch’ of attention. She feels something that she never has felt before. She compares the touch between her legs with that little shock of the gun firing. But she likes the shock of the actual gun firing. Layton said that she was not afraid of the kick yet (p. 10, l. 97), which could indicate her gratification of trying something new and her will to be more than just a child. Sam suddenly experiences something she has not experienced with a male before. “His eyes were cloudy and intent, focused and unfocused, and she’d never seen a man look that way before.” (p. 11, l. 154-155). She has a feeling between her thighs that is sharp and aching. Sam does not know what to do about it but lie awake until it is gone. She is about to feel the first feelings of a sexual touch, which can be a huge taboo for girls that age – especially to talk with their parents about it. Sam would like to confront her father about the topic or just ask him why he left her alone with Layton. But she did not. However did she accept the scholarship, and the relationship with her father got more intense (p. 12, l. 180). Now Sam appears more grown-up and takes responsibility for her own education to hide the disappointment from her father. She gets a feeling that it was wrong going away, and tries to forgive him, but she kept silent and the moment was over.
The main theme in the short story is the development from being a child to be an adult. Sam as a main character learns in a hard way how to overcome the fact that you have to grow up, and take every episode as a bump on the road. Sam experiences the episodes as a symbol red from green. I the beginning is it all peaceful and in harmony with the forest. She has a mentally health and feels relaxed. After the episode with Layton she gets very affected mentally and physically. But it also encouraged some action and confidence at Sam even though she also felt a kind of anxiety.

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