War

Short story by Tessa Hadley in The New Yorker - telling the story about Shelley, who has a son in Afghanistan. He is taking part in the war there. The "Friendly fire" actually alludes to the episode in which two Danish soldiers were accidentally killed by British soldiers. Shelley is afraid that her son may suffer the same fate.
A collection of war poems.

Tony Blair speech in which he justifies military intervention and warns of global terrorism
Bush speech announcing military action i Afghanistan. Mission Accomplished speech 1.5.03. Mission Accomplished? - five years later.
Model for Analysis of political communication and oratory
Anders Fogh Rasmussen: Opening speech Danish parliament 2007 session, justifying Afghanistan commitment.
Bush and Fogh on Youtube. Afghanistan articles in the Guardian and in the Sun.

Short glossary to Tessa Hadley story:

employees were so unreliable: Hun kunne ikke stole på sine ansatte
thorough: grundig
central heating: Centralvarme
trap the warmth of her breath inside: holde varmen ("i en fælde") indenfor
blasts: voldsomme stød
interior light: Det indre lys
fiddle around with piles of paper: rode rundt med dynger af papir
crocheted blanket: hæklet tæppe
tissues: Servietter
pillar: søjle
pebble-dashed end wall of the kitchen extension: Småstensbestrøet endevæg på køkkenudbygningen
council estate: Almennyttigt byggeri (socialt boligbyggeri). I de senere år har lejerne fået mulighed for at købe disse
limp saggy cushion: slap, blød, pude
permed: permanentede
gallstones: galdesten
cluttered: rodet
The heater was on high, belting out a stinging warmth that smelled of the little cardboard pine-tree air freshener dangling from the rearview mirror: Varmeapparatet var tændt på det højeste og der væltede en stikkende varme ud, som lugtede af den lille pap fyrretræs luftfornyer, der dinglede fra bakspejlet.
mess her around: at det skal blive for besværligt for hende
do the books: lave bogføring, regnskaber
plasterer: gipsarbejder, stukkatør
scaffold: stillads
limp: humpe
tide: tidevand
two-story shed: skur i to etager
kit from the boot: udstyr fra bagagerummet
employers were supposed to provide equipment: arbejdsgiverne skulle være kommet med udstyret
leave cancelled: Orlov annuleret
he’d volunteered to stay: han ville blive frivilligt
injured: såret
shapes: omrids, former
fuss about the friendly-fire incident: røret om episoden, hvor de allierede soldater skød på hinanden
fixated on the idea: kunne ikke slå det ud af hovedet
different grades of insulating material: Forskellige grader/kvaliteter af isoleringsmateriale
aisles: mellemgange
Fibrous orange dust: fiberholdig orange støv
weren’t contracted: havde ikke kontrakt på....
plate rack on the draining board: tallerkenrække på afløbsbrættet
cutlery: knive og gafler
murky gray sludge: mørkegrå slam
lunchtime supervisor: en, der har opsyn under frokost
filthy : beskidt
bladder: blære
square of polished tin: firkant af pudset tin
banter: Spøge, lave sjov med
vigilant: årvågen, på mærkerne
cheekbones: kindben
jut: stikke frem
tiled: flisebeklædt
squat: Sætte sig på hug
gutter: afløbsrende
caustic: ætsende
fume: damp
tracksuit: løbedragt
in plastic wrap for dispatch: i plastikindpakning til afsending
reverse: køre baglæns
reassure: forsikre, berolige
alert: opvakt
fag break: smøgpause
courier van: vogn der kører efter taxameter eller lign.
leak color: lække farve
tense: spændt
whiplash: piskesnert
matted insulation: sammenfiltret isoleringsmateriale
gulp of bad drain smell: et gisp af dårlig lugt fra afløbet
foul water, released, went gurgling down the pipe: dårlige vand, da det var kommet ud, løb gurglende ned i røret
choke: choker
hacking convulsions: krampeagtige hakken

Short story Analysis:

What happens? Give an account of the main events in the story and how they unfold. Do we have a hero, a villain and a victim?

The setting - time and place/milieu: She and her husband, Roy, lived on what had been a council estate, although they had been buying their house for years now. Upwardly mobile working class, but not that upwardly: they had been buying...
They crossed the river. It was at low tide, sunk to a twisting channel between flanks of mud glinting with moonlight. A notice outside the red brick warehouse, which was not much more than a two-story shed

Characters: Who are the main characters?/subsidiary characters? Comment on the characters in the story and the way the author presents them to the reader. Looks: Pam was fat like a limp saggy cushion, very short. Characterised by implication: John was meant to do the books for the cleaning business.

Viewpoint : What is the viewpoint? Through whose eyes is the story presented?

Structure and form: Describe the structure and form of the story. Look for plot and how it unfolds, choice of grammatical person (1st or 3rd) and verb tenses. Do we find the classical division of the story into three sections: Beginning, in which characters, setting and the conflict(s) are introduced, a middle with the climax and an ending with resolution of conflict? Perhaps the postmodern world is not as linear as the modern world, so the author makes a break - or several breaks - with the classical set up?

Imagery: Metaphor and simile (comparison): friendly-fire, .... "hearts and minds" .... "shelling out more kids.”(metaphors). her pregnant belly swollen out like a football. Like a bomb (simile).

The sky was a blue so pale that it was almost no color; wooded bluffs loomed above them, beyond the industrial estate, marking the edge of the city. The sun had dropped behind the bluffs already, so that the tops of the bare trees showed up finely spiky, like hair or fur (simile). Very poetic and with implied threat of war: Yellow glow of light from somewhere out of sight.

Key images: What are the key images in the story? What do they mean in the context, and how do they work in the story? In this case: Hard work and boredom: Images of cleaning utensils and the hard work of cleaning. A powerful image connected to cleaning out the sink and war: ...as if it opened a way out of the world, or into it

Dialogue: Does the story use dialogue and if so, what is the effect of this? Does the author always use direct speech or is there reported speech, too?
The author may choose to describe dialogue (character): All Pam’s conversations began as if you hadn’t stopped talking since you last saw her. Or character may be revealed through dialogue: “What d’you need to go for already?” she said, pulling out one earphone from her music player. “You only just got here!”
He was sheepish. “Two cups of tea for breakfast. Bladder control’s not what it used to be.”
“Use the one upstairs.”
“Don’t tell me they piss the same stuff as we do?”
“You’re not coming near my toilets until they’re spotless.”

Special linguistic features: Use of social dialect?Use of colloquialism or puns/wordplay? shelling out more kids.” Shelley (pun intended?) misforstår udtrykket to shell out (at punge ud), så hun faktisk kommer til at sige: "bombardere omgivelserne med babyer". Kontrasteres med den kommercielle (mande)verdens platte ordspil:

names they gave to hairdressers and fishmongers and so on: A Cut Above, The Plaice to Go, that sort of thing. She supposed it passed the time.

Theme What are the main ideas in the story?: Gender: Roy said that statistically Anthony would be in more danger if he were still playing with his rugby club, but Shelley was always waiting for some dreadful kind of message War, Friendly Fire, Nuclear family?