Short Story Analysis: The Go Between By Ali Smith

The text is called ”The Go Between” and is a short story written by Ali Smith. The short story is written in context with the celebration of “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights” to bring awareness about the refugee issue between Africa and Europe. Smith found her inspiration to write the story in article 13, which is seen below.
“Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.”
“Everyone has the rights to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
Ali smith writes in very short sentences, which gives the reading experience very fragmented, but also intense. Smith writes about very serious issues, refugees who are being chased and shot by the police, children who are being beaten with truncheons,

The leaping and unstructured style helps to substantiate the direct narrative and maintain the feeling that we sit directly across from the narrator, who lives in a chaotic and disorganized world.
Furthermore, the choice of narrator and the viewing angle is very central in how Ali Smith communicates her message. She is for example talking directly to the reader through a first person narrator: “I was telling you about the fences”. In addition to that, the narrator ask question directly to the reader, you have to decide what is being asked. This is an effective way of engage the reader in the text’s refugee issue. By writing in this direct manner, she is able to create intensity.
However, the writer takes use of suggestions. By doing so, the narrator does not come with many judgmental comments or conclusions against the police or the authorities, but he often suggests to the reader how bad things are. It is up to the reader to catch these hints, to think further about them and thus to be reminded of how bad things