An Analysis Of Save As Many As You Can By Simon Van Booy

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In the short story ”Save as Many as You Can” by Simon Van Booy, we follow the maincharacter Gerard who is on his way home from the office in Manhatten thinking about how the footsteps in the snow will soon dissapear and if his life is special or just normal. Suddenly eight years after their breakup he sees his only love, his ex girlfriend Laurel through a window. He thinks back to the time when they met and how he cheated on her with Issy who became pregnant and is the mother to his seven year old daughter Lucy. Laurel and Gerard greet each other and talk about how Issy left Gerard and their daughter and then died four years later. The conversation makes him think about Issy's funeral in Los Angeles and about Laurels wristwatch which he still …show more content…
The snow is a recurring element which sets the mood throughout the story and it reflects Gerards feelings and thoughts. At first there is only snow on the ground and Gerard silently walks through the streets of Manhatten wondering about life while looking at the snow “Gerard thinks of everyone’s footprints in the snow. Manhattan was once a forest. He imagines the footprints of an Indian slipping home ...” (p. 2, l. 4-5), but later on when the plot reaches it's climax and he sees Lauren the snow begins to fall heavily “It’s a blizzard now. Flakes like clumps of fur ripped from winter’s back. And then he sees Laurel through the falling snow”(p. 3, l. 47- 49), in this quote it is also seen how the the authors writing is very poetic and figurative. It is as if the snow describes his feelings. Again we see a contrast in the story, in how the snow is described. When he reflects upon his life in the beginning the snow is connected to his negative thoughts of how life is just a passing thing “Gerard thinks of his own footprints and how soon they will dissapear” (p. 2, l. 7) but later the snow is connected to something positive when he meets Laurel “Of course, she says, and then looks outside at the blizzard and laughs” (p. 5, l. 137-138). He thinks a lot about death and thinks back at his ex wifes death and burial, and at some points even after the positive meeting with Laurel it seems as if he can't let go of the past. This is seen when he comes home and greets his daughter “She is kissing him all over his face. Gerard imagines her mother floating in the pool” (p. 6, l. 163-164). He is constantly torn between the thought of death which connects to his ex wife, and Laurel with whom he dreams of spending the future with. The end is linked to the beginning when he looks out of the window, thinking that Laurel soon will move in with them, and sees the snow on the window “…that the footsteps of snow on the window

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