Analysis of the short story Irregularities by Courtney Jones

031, Lea Mejdahl Nielsen 3t (elev nr. 30), eksamens nr. 09, Engelsk B, 11. Marts 2008

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Assignment B

Irregularities

The short story Irregularities, written by Courtney Jones and published in 2003, deals with various aspects of human life and the consequences of hopeless love. The pivotal point in the short story is the female narrator and her short “relationship” with her employer, Dr. Soleander. Their relationship cannot be described as an affair because of its short existence and due to Dr. Soleander’s lack of interest in the female narrator after they’ve spent a night together in his office.

We meet the female narrator, whose name is never to be known, as she explains about a recent appearance of onion intolerance. The intolerance includes several others groceries and is due to the fact that the narrator is pregnant – by whom, we discover in line 11, “My boss, James Soleander, M.D., doesn’t even know yet about the baby inside me, though I believe he ought to. He’s the one who put it there”. The single sentence tells us not only that the father to the baby is Dr Soleander, but it also explains a lot about the narrator herself. Firstly, is it interesting that the narrator mentions Dr. Soleander by his formal working title “M.D.” and not by his common name “James”. This indicates partly the existing power struggle between the narrator and Dr. Soleander and partly that the narrator considers Dr. Soleander to be very important – in private as well as in working life. In this way, the female narrator attaches herself mentally to Dr. Soleander, because he has shown her a way out of her ordinary lifestyle with unfulfilled dreams and inferiority complexes towards her elder sister. These inferiority complexes are never directly mentioned by the narrator but she reveals her feelings several times, e.g., “Even my older sister doesn’t own any (cashmere) that I know of (…) and she has everything” and “I imagine a big white wedding that my sister can coordinate and finally be happy about!”.

Dr. Soleander is, as mentioned, the employer of the female narrator. He is well-educated and leads a successful life, on the assumption that the narrator tells the truth when speaking about Dr. Soleander’s appointments and meeting. However, the most important information the narrator gives later on is that Dr. Soleander is married. Why the narrator doesn’t want to tell this in the beginning is unclear, all though it could be due to her feelings for Dr. Soleander as well as it strengthens her character to appear reliable.

The relationship between the narrator and Dr. Soleander evolves quickly ...

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The relationship between the narrator and Dr. Soleander evolves quickly all though, as the narrator points out, it isn’t a typical boss/secretary affair, “There was no standing behind me and breathing on my neck or looking down my blouse as he dictated a letter, no inappropriate rear end touching by the coffee machine, and, as far as I know, there was nothing missing in his life that he suddenly saw in my life (…)”. The same way their relationship evolves, the same way does it ends. About approximately 1-1½ month after their intercourse, the two goes to a medical conference in Hilton Head and shortly after their return it becomes clear that Dr. Soleander isn’t that interested in the female narrator, as she first assumed or hoped. Dr. Soleanders lack of interest could be seen in the light of his family life and marriage with another woman. As the narrator explains, Dr. Soleanders wife is ”beautiful and sweet, well groomed, charming at parties” – in short: overall perfect opposite the female narrator, who envy this woman because she’s got everything the female narrator hasn’t. However, a parallel to this is also the recurring image of the female narrator being “irregular”. This is a complete contrast to Dr. Soleanders wife and it could perhaps be the reason why he seeks the company of the female narrator in the first place, because as he explains, when the narrator is examined for her irregular heartbeat, ”True beauty lies in nature’s mistakes”. Human instinct will always seek to obtain perfection in every aspect of life and this could explain why Dr. Soleander turns against his wife and seeks “irregularities”. The above quotation also expresses how the narrator wishes Dr. Soleander to see herself and their unborn baby – as a beautiful mistake which can lead them towards a new beginning.

Gradually, the narrator seeks to fulfill her determinate wish for Dr. Soleanders attention and she therefore tries to “And I was so difficult about feeding him the things he liked. And as much as I’ve read in these various women’s magazines about pleasing a man, I couldn’t seem to please him, the one that really mattered”. 136-139 s. 11.

Flashbacks, får først hele historien lidt efter lidt → hun nævner først sent at Dr. Solander er gift (hvorfor?) → hans liv er perfekt → søger derfor det modsatte, det uperfekte, manifesteret ved fortællerens iregulære hjerteslag (allegori) → han er et middel til at hun kan forlige sig med sin familie, så hun kan gøre dem glade

Perfekt >< uperfekt – hun vil være perfekt, men indser aldrig at det netop har været det uperfekte som dr. Solander, har søgt.

→ han udtrykker inddirekte det som hun ønsker, at han skal føle for hende og deres barn.

Efter at han ”er gået fra hende” → seancen imellem dem bliver beskrevet uromantisk → ”that we once shared a sack of cells in my malfunctioning belly”.Babyen blev et middel for hende til at opnå et andet liv → da hun ikke kan få det, vender hun sig fra det hun kender i forvejen og stagnerer i stedet.

Får hun abort?

lunefuld

Write an essay (700-1000 words) in which you analyze and interpret the short story Irregularities. Your essay must include the following points: