The False Moon Analysis

The False Moon

The False Moon is a short story written by Shirley Golden in 2011. It tells the story of what kind of person people can develop into, when they lack a parental figure in their life. A figure who will not only be responsible towards their children, but also guide them to the right path and be good role models for them, so that they can grow into confident and content human beings.

The main theme in this short story is growth and development. It deals with the story of this teenage boy who in the beginning of the story craves nothing more than a motherly figure to guide him, take care of him and be there for him, and he resents his mother deeply for not doing so. However in the end he begins to think differently:
‘’No matter

At one point, he expresses that he feels like words are not reliable, and that the only thing he really trusts is art, because it is what he finds comforts in and it is the only thing that has never let him down.
Last but not least, it is also hinted numerous of times in the short story that Matt cares about his mother through some of his actions, despite the fact that she does not care about him
‘’She starts to cry… It’s hard to look at her when she’s like this.’’ (P. 3, l. 123-125)
Matt thinks that it’s hard to look at his mother when she is crying and upset, and this indicates that he loves and cares about her enough to not wanting to see her cry. It could perhaps also be hard for him to look at her when she is crying, because it is so unusual for her to be showing any kind of vulnerability towards Matt and that maybe makes him uneasy. Another thing that indicates that he deep down does care for her is the fact that he is worried when he sees her unconscious on the floor, and most importantly: he helps her.
Having this kind of difficult, strained and hard relationship with an irresponsible and careless mother has also had a huge impact on Matt growing