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’’A Simple Exchange of Niceties’’, a short story by Joanne Fedler, 2007.
In the text ’’A Simple Exchange of Niceties’’ the narrator lives in what could be a big town. In this town there is a park which she often visits, in this park there is a certain bench that she likes better than the others, and she calls it her own bench.
The theme is teenage problems and about teenagers developing into the adulthood.
The narrator’s language is very normal and is what every other American citizen could be speaking. The language contains a few curse words and slang words too. Example given: ‘’ She seemed so bloody keen on kids ‘’ (Page 11 line 133).
The narrator does not have much self confidence; she had a one night stand with a Damien from the bar, which resulted in her getting pregnant. Damien told her that he never wanted to have kids with a ‘’trashy whore’’ like her after he had fertilized her, which made her feel like a trashy whore too.
She has lost the sympathy of her mother too; the narrator is a very troubled person who is shop-lifting and has been impregnated at a very young age; this shows that she is not very sure of herself, and has not grown up yet. Her mother does not even want to bail her out from the prison after she had been caught shop-lifting.
The narrator is a bit arrogant against people she does not know. Example given when the old lady has issues untwisting her bag, and the narrator just ignores it; which shows that she does not like to communicate with strangers, which she also mentions – ‘’When I’m sitting on my bench, I’m generally not in the mood for small-talk and chit-chat.’’ – (Page 9, line 43).
She complains about when she is sitting on her bench and people come and sit down without asking if she is okay with it; this is a very two-faced action, would she herself even ‘’exchange niceties’’ if she was the one approaching a stranger on a bench?
Her arrogance is also shown when a lady with a book and a bottle of water comes