Transcript artist.

Short Story Course
Analysis for
’’The Star’’
by
Alasdair Gray’s pen
Alasdair Gray
- He was born in Glasgow in 1934 where he •
still lives.
- He is a Scottish writer and artist. •
- His most acclaimed work is his first novel •
Lanark.
- Gray's works combine elements of realism,, •
fantasy, science and fiction, plus clever use of
typography and his own illustrations.
‘’The Star’’ in lines
The story is about a boy named Cameron, who •
sees a star falling down. He goes to the place
where the star fell and takes the star with him.
The star is cold but whenever he touches the star,
then he feels relaxed and comfortable. Every time
when he feels lonely or sad he keeps the star out
and keeps looking at it. Once, he keeps the star in
the school out, the teacher notices it and orders
Cameron to give it to him, but Cameron swallows
the star and falls into faint.
•
Characters
- Cameron: ‘the main character’ is just an •
example of millions of children who live in •
despair and are victims of maltreatment and
child abuse..
- His parents: mentioned once to show their •
negative roles toward their child.
- The teacher: who represents the dictatorial school systems.
Analysis
The onset of the story shows the first problem •
that the child faces ‘boredom’ when his mind
portrays to him that three stars have fallen,
and he is the only one who notices them. He
looks at his father and mother and finds that
they’re both busy ‘’this shows that he is
neglected from his family. No one tries to
amuse that child even if he was bored’’-the
second problem-.
• When he goes to get the star, poverty –the
third problem- is shown in:
• 1-The description of his house ‘’the stairs were
cold and lit by a weak electric bulb - the lobby
– stairhead…’’
• 2-The place where he finds the star ‘’he found
it in the middle of a decayed cabbage leaf’’.
• If he was a pampered child, he wouldn’t touch
such disgusting place.
• 3- The place where he sleeps ‘in bed with his
brother’
• In fact, it isn’t a star. It’s a glass marble, but he
considers it as a treasure. He feels that he has
something for his own. He keeps it for himself
without telling anyone about it ‘‘that shows
how the problems he encounters affect him to
be an introvert. He doesn’t talk to anyone
about anything’’.
• Whenever he meditates that marble, his
innocence portrays to him ‘‘a cave in an
iceberg, a snow flake, an ocean of glittering
blue-black waves, a flower, a jewel, a moon, or
he heard a remote lulling sound’’. All these
imaginations reflect his pure, natural, and
innocent thoughts. He doesn’t think of money
or toys, all his thinking is in beauty.
• In the last part, he decides to take a glance on
it in class where he sits alone in the back
bench ‘‘showing his loneliness even among his
associates’’. When he takes it out, the teacher
notices him and orders him to give him the
star.
• That event represents maltreatment – the
forth problem- on the teacher’s side who
represents a superior authority.
• When Cameron knows that there is no way to
escape from this dictatorial authority, he
swallows his treasure and fells into faint
dreaming that he is rising to become one of
stars which were his only escape all his
problems.
Language Analysis
- ‘’when he feels insulted or neglected’’ this
conclusion invites the reader to think of the
different reasons leading to such negative
psychological problems. •
- The writer used the pronoun ‘he’ and didn’t
mention the name of the child to affirm that
these problems can encounter any child.
•
•
- Also, he didn’t assign either a time or a place •
to assert that this is not restricted by a
particular time or place.
**The text increases the reader's awareness •
of the importance of parents and teachers to
help children overcome their problems
and enjoy living in a better.** •
Prepared by:
Saleh M. Orooq
Under the supervision of:
Dr. Sami Breem