"a Gap of Sky" Case

English Essay ”A Gap of Sky”

By Emil Heuck S13

The ups and downs of youth. The desires, feeling of freedom and life is what shapes us. We are defined in our youth and are molded into the people we become. When you are young, the feeling of freedom is overwhelming and everyone reacts differently to that freedom.

Being young is not only about freedom but also about living up to the expectations from the people in your life and the responsibility of adulthood. This is what Anna Heart has chosen to be central points in the short story “A Gap of Sky” which revolves around drugs, freedom and the dilemma between expectations and desires. The story is narrated in a third person urban setting and even though it’s told by a third person, the reader follows Ellie’s thoughts and emotions. This is the reason why the language is that of the nineteen years old which can be seen although the text

ex: “She burrows back to bed. Her chest hurts. The room is cold. It is warm under the duvet though, and meaty smelling. [..] Fuuuuuuck… She shoots up from under the duvet..”

This passage from the text is characteristic for the short story and creates a mixture of 3rd person narration and the first person insight into her feelings and her point of view.

The story begins with Ellie. Ellie is a nineteen year old teenager who lives in London. She is a student at an unknown university and probably lives in a college dorm since she has a room without a toilet. Ellie is taking drugs and is not very serious about her education. She actually blames her parents for her taking the “bloody course” . Among some of the drugs which Ellie is doing are crack and coke which makes her stay up late, skip classes and do badly in the course. The dilemma Ellie is in is whether to live up to the expectations of her parents or to follow her desires.

Ellie wakes up after a night of partying and taking drugs and is not quite sober yet. She has an essay due to the following morning and she realizes that her printer is out of ink. She decides to go out to buy some ink, just as the shops are about to close. On her way to the shop she notices a black leather glove which is stuck on an iron railing so the middle