The Age of Lead
When someone dies, they live on in the hearts of the people that loves them. Even when the dead person is buried under the ground and is therefore not physically present, the dead person continues to have an impact on others. If a world leader dies it has an impact on the history of the world, however, when someone that you love dies, it has an impact on your personal life. This impact that dead people can have is what Margaret Atwood writes about in “The Age of Lead” from 1991
The story is told by a limited third person narrator. The narrator is telling the story from an outer point of view. The narrator is focalized on Jane in the story. Besides that, the narrator acts like a fly on the wall. This influences the story and the way you…show more content… Vincent had gone along with this scheme because Jane had wanted it, but he was elusive, he would not make declarations. […] She thought he might be gay, but was afraid to ask him.”
Jane did not only search for the cause of Vincent’s death at that time, she also searched for answers about their relationship. Jane never understood why Vincent would not have a serious relationship with Jane.
There is also a clear symbol in the ending of the short story. “[…] the sidewalk that runs past her house is littered […]” The trail of litter on the sidewalk that runs past her house symbolizes the tin cans that were left from the Franklin Expedition. The dead body from the TV-programme had died from lead-poisoning because of what they have ate. Right before Vincent dies he says to jane in a sense of humour that “It must have been something I ate.” Another reference to the Franklin Expedition comes across the story of Vincent’s death.
“She picks the up, clears the away, but they appear again overnight, like a trail left by the fleeing residents of a city under bombardment, leaving behind the objects that were once thought essential but are now too heavy to