The Go-Between
The Go-Between
The short story ”The Go-Between” is written by Ali Smith in 2009, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. The declaration consists of thirty rights, which symbolise all the rights we, as human beings, should be obligated to have. Smith has found her inspiration in Article 13, the right to freedom of movement.
The story takes place in Morocco in North Africa, and partly in Europe. Throughout the story, we follow a 33-year-old man – who is the protagonist. We never hear the name of this man, but he speaks of himself as “Professor me”. Our main character is a so-called “border crosser” – he helps refugees cross the border between Morocco and Spain – and he is also a “messenger” between the refugees in Morocco and the French Doctors in Spain – you could call him the “go-between”. He helps the French doctors heal all the wounded people; a man whose legs had been broken under a train, a woman who had been raped and a little boy who was dying – all mentioned to make the reader sympathize even more for these people. He is a former microbiologist and has worked in a university – this shows that he has gained a lot of knowledge and is indeed a clever man. His education is what has enabled him to get help to those who need it once they cross the border, by being able to speak the language of the French doctor, who he says can be Italian, Spanish, French, English; he says “I speak these and also some others”. (p. 2, l. 32) He describes his physical self with the following characteristics “I’m a small, slight man. I’m not a big man. I’m lean and slight”. (p. 4, l. 120) I think he is describing his physical self in this way because it humanizes him. The reader may begin to think that he is some kind of super hero, helping all of these refugees cross- but he is just a normal person, doing what he can to help.
The 33-year-old man is definitely a very “Determined Professor Me”, when it
The short story ”The Go-Between” is written by Ali Smith in 2009, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. The declaration consists of thirty rights, which symbolise all the rights we, as human beings, should be obligated to have. Smith has found her inspiration in Article 13, the right to freedom of movement.
The story takes place in Morocco in North Africa, and partly in Europe. Throughout the story, we follow a 33-year-old man – who is the protagonist. We never hear the name of this man, but he speaks of himself as “Professor me”. Our main character is a so-called “border crosser” – he helps refugees cross the border between Morocco and Spain – and he is also a “messenger” between the refugees in Morocco and the French Doctors in Spain – you could call him the “go-between”. He helps the French doctors heal all the wounded people; a man whose legs had been broken under a train, a woman who had been raped and a little boy who was dying – all mentioned to make the reader sympathize even more for these people. He is a former microbiologist and has worked in a university – this shows that he has gained a lot of knowledge and is indeed a clever man. His education is what has enabled him to get help to those who need it once they cross the border, by being able to speak the language of the French doctor, who he says can be Italian, Spanish, French, English; he says “I speak these and also some others”. (p. 2, l. 32) He describes his physical self with the following characteristics “I’m a small, slight man. I’m not a big man. I’m lean and slight”. (p. 4, l. 120) I think he is describing his physical self in this way because it humanizes him. The reader may begin to think that he is some kind of super hero, helping all of these refugees cross- but he is just a normal person, doing what he can to help.
The 33-year-old man is definitely a very “Determined Professor Me”, when it