Insignificant Gestures By Jo Cannon

Through life, many people come across a lot of individuals who are all unique and special in their own way. For instance, we meet some of these people in relation to families, jobs and specific areas. Accordingly, people get in touch with each other which contributes to a responsibility. We ought to take care of our neighbour. But in the last resort, it can be a too heavy burden to assume. What to do with such a burden and the consequences of it are exactly what the short story “Insignificant Gestures”, written by Jo Cannon in 2007, is about. A story about a doctor returning from Africa.
Even though the main character has returned from Africa, the first part of the text is about his experiences back in Africa. As a result, Africa is the …show more content…
On the contrary, his reminiscence of Celia also seems melancholy and filled with a guilty conscience over her death: “- I could have saved her with an injection of penicillin.” (P. 4, l. 123). The modal verb “can” can be translated into “to be able to”. So, in this context, the use of the modal verb tells the reader that he accuses himself of being passive. He distinctly regrets his inaction and the fact that it still has an influence on him tells the reader that the doctor and Celia must have had close ties. Even though there was a great difference between them, in proportion to social classes. One of the things they had in common was their love for drawing. But proportionate to that love, Celia’s death is a turning point. His response to her death is an evident sign on the fact that he is as a doctor who takes care of others, but not himself. Celia’s death was an excessive burden to assume and in response to that the protagonist stops drawing. Consequently, he tries to dissociate from the elements and situations which remind him of her. So, in the way he blames himself and takes distance, he shows signs of being a stereotypical man in grief. More specifically, a stereotypical doctor returned from Africa who is in