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Yellow

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Maria Mortensen
Yellow

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The short story, Yellow, by Peter Carty is called Yellow because the main character, Jon, thinks that he is Yellow, a coward. He is forty years old, and is a second-string writer for a London listings magazine. Jon has completely lost faith in himself. But is he a coward? He is sent on the scuba-dive course because no one else from his work would go, he has problems with his girlfriend, and he is an alcoholic. Ones first thought is that he is lazy, a bit of a failure. He seems completely disheartened, and like he has given up on life. That is a bit odd given that he is about to face an amazing experience. When diving, Jon faces the extreme, beautiful, hash, and pure nature. Most people get overwhelmed when experiencing such rare nature, as you do when you dive. Imagine this beautiful deep blue ocean, and being right in the middle of it, it must be so scary and then life-affirming at the same time. In the text “What Is Reckless Op About?” you hear about how pushing yourself to you limits, as you do when you skydive, can make you live your life, and love your life. But Jon reacts in a completely different way. He describes the ocean as “horrifying”, and “deadly”, he is afraid of the water. As his diving instructor, Berto, says; he is very close to his panic level underwater. Even though he manages to overcome his fear, he still feels useless and empty. Suicide seems to be a release to him, it’s like he can’t find any joy at all in his life at all. He has nothing left to live for. He is about to loose both his girlfriend and his job. In the end of the text he gets frustrated with he’s fear of the ocean, frustrated with being yellow. Committing suicide becomes not only a relief but also a proof of the fact that he is not a coward. But death is not a relief to Jon the same way as it is a relief in “Suicide’s Note”. Here the description of

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