The Go-Between
The Go-Between
The story ‘The Go-Between’ is a short story written by Ali Smith in 2009. The story was written for a collection of short stories written to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The story is inspired by Article 13, which stands for the right to freedom of movement.
In the story we read about a 33-year-old man who’s name is not revealed. The 33-year old man is a former microbiologist and has worked in a university. In the text we follow this man who gives the reader a directly insight in how it’s like to be an African refugee trying to cross the border between Morocco and Spain. The narrator of the story has tried several times to cross the border illegally without any luck, only a part of his finger and ear made it to Europe, due to the tall fence with barbed wire at the border. The narrator has for unknown reasons left his homeland Cameroon and writes with a lot of details about how he tried to enter Europe and how the government was treating him. The narrator lives in a Spanish town in Morocco in a small hotel room with 3 other people, where they plan their next attempt to cross the border. The narrator works as a go-between guide, referring to the tittle, for these people in the hotel. He is a guide because he speaks a lot of different languages. He contacts doctors in Europe who may be able to help those who need it, when they are past the border. The story gives a good insight in how dreadful the refugees from North Africa are being treated and how they are lacking human rights.
The text ‘The Go-between’ is indeed a story that is critical to the society and it raises some questions about human rights. The themes I found in the story are; being invisible, Africa vs. Europe, limited opportunities, refugees and human rights.
The narrator of the story is a well-educated man. He is a microbiologist and has worked in a university “I was a microbiologist, before. I worked
The story ‘The Go-Between’ is a short story written by Ali Smith in 2009. The story was written for a collection of short stories written to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The story is inspired by Article 13, which stands for the right to freedom of movement.
In the story we read about a 33-year-old man who’s name is not revealed. The 33-year old man is a former microbiologist and has worked in a university. In the text we follow this man who gives the reader a directly insight in how it’s like to be an African refugee trying to cross the border between Morocco and Spain. The narrator of the story has tried several times to cross the border illegally without any luck, only a part of his finger and ear made it to Europe, due to the tall fence with barbed wire at the border. The narrator has for unknown reasons left his homeland Cameroon and writes with a lot of details about how he tried to enter Europe and how the government was treating him. The narrator lives in a Spanish town in Morocco in a small hotel room with 3 other people, where they plan their next attempt to cross the border. The narrator works as a go-between guide, referring to the tittle, for these people in the hotel. He is a guide because he speaks a lot of different languages. He contacts doctors in Europe who may be able to help those who need it, when they are past the border. The story gives a good insight in how dreadful the refugees from North Africa are being treated and how they are lacking human rights.
The text ‘The Go-between’ is indeed a story that is critical to the society and it raises some questions about human rights. The themes I found in the story are; being invisible, Africa vs. Europe, limited opportunities, refugees and human rights.
The narrator of the story is a well-educated man. He is a microbiologist and has worked in a university “I was a microbiologist, before. I worked