Miranda July Roy Spivey Analysis

Literary Analysis of “Roy Spivey” by Miranda July
Miranda July, a film director and author, publishes a fictional work of art that allows her audience to experience regret from a weird encounter, between a unnamed narrator and a famous actor, named “Roy Spivey,” which is an anagram for his real name, and coincidentally the name of the story. Through her short story that was published in The New Yorker, July sparks conversation about quirkiness, adultery, regret, and life.
July begins her story through a first person narration of her fictional character, which allows the readers to immerse themselves into the herself. After agreeing to give up her seat, she is bumped up to first class, next to Roy Spivey, the handsome and famous actor. She awkwardly stares at …show more content…
While her arms extended and her hands “pressed against the window,” (something that may remind a reader of a sex scene in a car) Spivey playfully bites her arm to show how much he likes her; he mentions the need of being wanted and liked, something relatable to the readers. Spivey proceeds to unbutton his shirt and being the pushover the narrator is, she lightly bites him back, and he re-buttons his shirt. All of their actions, such as the biting, growling, unbuttoning of shirts, and hands against a window, hints toward something to be erotic or sexual. At the end of the flight, Spivey gives her the cell phone number of his personal nanny for contact but it was missing a number at the end, just incase it fell into the wrong hands. She would have to guard it with her life and remember the number four. Such a number will play a large role in her life; from saying it during the painful intercourse with her husband, to the death of her father. Years later, she finds herself standing in her living room, unable to move with the thought of what could have been with Spivey. The woman has always had an unknown condition of random paralysis. Later on,