Low Visibility
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 11/01/2010 12:39 PM
- Pages: 5
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Low Visibility
By
Margaret Murphy
To prevent yourself, in any given situation, from falling into invisibility, you need to step into character and define yourself and your worth. If not you one day will slip away, both physically and psychologically. The main character from the short story “Low Visibility” from 2008, is one of the fortunate who act before it is too late.
The story is about the woman Laura, and her marriage with her abusive husband John. They are watching the News where they follow the street riots all over town. Laura doesn’t speak and doesn't move, in terror of what her husband will do to her. However, even when she doesn’t draw attention to her self at all, her husband John, slowly but surely punishes her absentmindedly. The street riots spread to their apartment building and the store under them gets broken in to. John goes down to make them stop and ends up getting beat up. Laura goes down to the street and finds her husband lying on the ground in bad shape. When John asks for her hand as help, she neglects to do so. A rebel passes them on the street, and winks at Laura and doesn’t see John at all, who is begging for help. Laura asks the man if he isn't scared of getting caught, whereto he answers (p. 5 l. 165); "Not me girl. I’ve been invisible all my life.” Laura walks away from John, surrounded by explosions, without helping him.
The story is narrated by a third person, and therefore we know what Laura and her husband are thinking, while we at the same time, have a full overview of what is happening physically in the story. The story also begins in media res where the couple is watching some kind of riots on the news. John is conducting his own rude monologue (p.1 l. 8): “Scum” and (l. 32): “Vermin” & (p.2 l. 60): “Animals” and making snide remarks about Laura’s terrified, silent responses (p.2 l.39): “ Nothing to contribute?” & (l. 41): “No sharp insights into the situation?”. However, they soon...
By
Margaret Murphy
To prevent yourself, in any given situation, from falling into invisibility, you need to step into character and define yourself and your worth. If not you one day will slip away, both physically and psychologically. The main character from the short story “Low Visibility” from 2008, is one of the fortunate who act before it is too late.
The story is about the woman Laura, and her marriage with her abusive husband John. They are watching the News where they follow the street riots all over town. Laura doesn’t speak and doesn't move, in terror of what her husband will do to her. However, even when she doesn’t draw attention to her self at all, her husband John, slowly but surely punishes her absentmindedly. The street riots spread to their apartment building and the store under them gets broken in to. John goes down to make them stop and ends up getting beat up. Laura goes down to the street and finds her husband lying on the ground in bad shape. When John asks for her hand as help, she neglects to do so. A rebel passes them on the street, and winks at Laura and doesn’t see John at all, who is begging for help. Laura asks the man if he isn't scared of getting caught, whereto he answers (p. 5 l. 165); "Not me girl. I’ve been invisible all my life.” Laura walks away from John, surrounded by explosions, without helping him.
The story is narrated by a third person, and therefore we know what Laura and her husband are thinking, while we at the same time, have a full overview of what is happening physically in the story. The story also begins in media res where the couple is watching some kind of riots on the news. John is conducting his own rude monologue (p.1 l. 8): “Scum” and (l. 32): “Vermin” & (p.2 l. 60): “Animals” and making snide remarks about Laura’s terrified, silent responses (p.2 l.39): “ Nothing to contribute?” & (l. 41): “No sharp insights into the situation?”. However, they soon...