"Andrina" Critical Essay.

Authors Avatar

“Andrina” Critical Essay

Jaime Smith

A short story in which an element of mystery plays an important part is “Andrina” by George Mackay Brown, a celebrated author from Orkney.   “Andrina” like many of his other works has a spiritual aspect with common themes such as the cycle of the seasons, betrayal, hope and regeneration.   “Andrina” is set in Orkney, a perfect location for this tale because of its mystical atmosphere.   The haunting, spiritual atmosphere created through the language Geroge Mackay Brown uses adds to the overall effect of the story.   In the short story an old seaman receives regular visits from a young lady, Andrina.   Then one day she does not come.   The same day the narrator falls ill.    He soon recovers and goes in search of Andrina whom he has missed during his illness.   He can find no one in the village who knows anything about her.   This increases the mystery surrounding her character.   It is not until the end of the story that he discovers that Andrina is the ghost of his grand-daughter.   This news come in a letter which had remained unopened since his illness.   The short story has a very unusual narrative structure with an embedded narrative surrounded by an outer frame narrative.   The embedded narrative takes us back in time and introduces us to the sea captains past.    He narrates the main body of the story in past tense.   But the exposition, narrative hook and resolution are all delivered in past tense.   This is significant as it represents the cyclical nature of Mackay Browns work.   This may also be significant as the reader could take it to mean that all throughout the story the old sea captain knows the ending as the tense change would suggest he does.  The authors use of foreshadowing gives the reader clues as to what is to come in this unusual story.        

Join now!

From the beginning of the story we are made aware of the strong relationship between Andrina and the Old Seaman.   Andrina’s role in the relationship is that of a selfless carer: she puts his needs before her own.   Andrina carries out many small tasks for the old seaman.   “She lights my lamp,sets the peat fire in a blaze, sees there is enough water in my bucket that stands on the wall niche”.   The relationship between Andrina and the old seaman is characterized by the author’s use of symbolism of the elements to create the spiritual ...

This is a preview of the whole essay