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 make them think about from reading their work. Mathews also uses the narrator’s point of view to emphasize the constant relationship between the two and doesn’t present the story in a continuous timeline. Mathews uses the strength and constancy of the narrator’s relationship with Kat to show the importance of a platonic relationship in a world filled with romantic relationships by using order of disclosure, point of view, and a very specific style of writing. Since “This Is Not a Love Story” was written in a snapshot style composed of photographs, sound clips, and moments, each section wasn’t necessarily in chronological order. At first, it almost seemed to the reader that the narrator was a kind of stalker to Kat, since there was no indication given until a little later that the two were actually friends. The order that Mathews reveals the extent of the friendship helps the reader understand just how long they had been friends and how deep their relationship was. Jumping back and forth between times and moments helps the reader piece together different aspects of their relationship. Had the sections been in order, it wouldn’t have really had the same effect of highlighting their friendship. Even though the reader doesn’t end up knowing the exact order of events, it just adds to how strong their friendship is. At one point, Kat says “not now, OK? Please? Can’t you just – seriously. Stop it with the camera, OK? Stop it. Cut it OUT! Why can’t you just be my friend instead of a goddamn-” (Mathews 223). The narrator’s friendship with Kat was far from perfect and they still had issues with each other like every friendship does, but it didn’t stop them from being such good friends for such a long time. When Kat gets angry, there is no explanation whatsoever. The reader doesn’t know about why she was angry at the narrator or how they ended up resolving the issue. The reader doesn’t know if it came before or after the previous memory, but it doesn’t matter because it shows that whatever happened no matter the situation, their friendship was strong enough to overcome it because they were friends until
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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