The narrator has seen a lot of horrible things, torture done to the people who tried to cross the borderline. He lost the upper part of his ear, when he tried to get over the fence and he keeps his ears covered, so that no one will notice it “I wear my hat down over my ears. I keep my hand folded so no one sees the loss in it.”
The narrator lives in Ceuta, where he tries to make himself invisible and he hides his face.
“You could walk past me in the street and not see. I’ve only a slight limp, not noticeable. I wear my hat down over my ears. I keep my hand folded so no one sees the loss in it.
The narrator sees him and the rest of the African refugees as undesirable and not accepted in the country. According to people they do not exist officially, since they are counted as the rest of the population. Because for every single person a flower “A flower will be planted for every single person in Tangier. But not us. Not me. I’m not here...I’m speaking to you and I’m not really here.”
The author Ali Smith uses short sentences, and the short sentences make the text seem boring and has not much excitement. “They slashed the tents so they were useless when it rained. They burned the blankets. They collected up the mobiles. They took them away. They took all the food they found.”
The narrator mentions that beautiful ladies have it easier to get across the border, but they must not be pregnant or be married. One reason could be that the girls must have sexual contact with the border police before they are allowed to go over. “Girls get to Spain a lot easier. (If they’re not pregnant and don’t have”…
The narrator uses metaphor a lot in the text and he is metaphoric in his way of telling the story, which make the text like a stream of thoughts and it also makes the reader confused and at the same time intrigued.
He compares Europe with a telephone company “You know what Europe is? It’s a phone signal! It’s the moment on the screen in your hand when MarcoTel changes to Vodafone Espagne.” The Narrator compares Europe with a telephone company because Europe has many opportunities and options. There is telephone connection, work opportunities, etc.
Ali Smith speaks directly to his readers and as a reader, you feel that you are sitting with the narrator and experience it all. Ali Smith uses the first person narrator. “I was telling you about the fences”.. “I’m speaking to you and I’m not really here.”
None of the characters have names in the short story. Although the narrator have many stories about different people. For example the narrator, he never mentions his own name.
The title, Go-between alludes to, that the narrator in the text can communicate with everyone, the Africans and Europeans. He is someone who can go between borders and still talk to people.
The short story shows the refugees’ hard conditions. The narrator tells us about the torture, the inhumanity and the unfairness against. The story shows how difficult it is to be a refugee. Although the West is favoured for human rights, the author Ali Smith has written, that it’s the European Border performing the torture.
by
qandigul (student)
