In today’s society, most of the relationships presented in books, movies, TV shows, and other media are romantic in nature. However, “This Is Not a Love Song” by Brendan Mathews veers away from that normal occurrence. Although some of the relationships that are presented in the story are romantic, the main focus is on the constant friendship between the narrator and Kat, the subject of her many photographs. Mathews uses a unique and interesting sort of snapshot vignette style of writing that includes very specific and intentionally placed details, similar to the ideas presented in “The Writer’s Goal” by Guy de Maupassant. Maupassant’s ideas focus on using different literary techniques to show the reader exactly what the writer is trying to
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Because each part of the story was another picture or sound clip, the entirety of the story was about Kat. At first glance, it seems to be purely about Kat, but upon deeper inspection, the reader can really see that it is about the narrator as well as Kat. None of the parts of the story are separate from either of them. Even the parts that seemed to be just about Kat, such as the small section about her being pissed in the doorway, were being described by the narrator, so the reader was always in the presence of both of the women. Through these snapshots, the reader can see that this friendship lasted from at least high school until the time that Kat died. Each moment and picture gave the reader a slightly better understanding of their relationship. While the narrator consoled Kat during the fight with her boyfriend, Kat “[gave me] that lopsided smile of hers, the one that I could never catch on film, the one that I’d pay a million dollars to see again” (218). Before this point, the reader doesn’t really have a full grasp on how much they care for one another, but this moment really shows how precious Kat is to the narrator. Each moment and snapshot after this just continues to reinforce the strength and understanding in their
Because each part of the story was another picture or sound clip, the entirety of the story was about Kat. At first glance, it seems to be purely about Kat, but upon deeper inspection, the reader can really see that it is about the narrator as well as Kat. None of the parts of the story are separate from either of them. Even the parts that seemed to be just about Kat, such as the small section about her being pissed in the doorway, were being described by the narrator, so the reader was always in the presence of both of the women. Through these snapshots, the reader can see that this friendship lasted from at least high school until the time that Kat died. Each moment and picture gave the reader a slightly better understanding of their relationship. While the narrator consoled Kat during the fight with her boyfriend, Kat “[gave me] that lopsided smile of hers, the one that I could never catch on film, the one that I’d pay a million dollars to see again” (218). Before this point, the reader doesn’t really have a full grasp on how much they care for one another, but this moment really shows how precious Kat is to the narrator. Each moment and snapshot after this just continues to reinforce the strength and understanding in their