Shouting at Cars - Adam Marek

Shouting at Cars

We all have our own Christmas holidays traditions. Some families bake cookies, others knit sweaters and so on. But the family in Adam Marek's '' Shouting at Cars '' has a tradition that is slightly abnormal. In this analytical essay I will discuss the family and their in-house relations. But also discuss the roll of the troll and the contrasts in the short story.

Adam Marek was born in 1974 and has been an author since his teens. He has always written in the fiction and or fantastic fiction genre. He has won multiple prices and has been praised for his short stories.

The fact that he is a trained authour in fantastic fiction is reflected in the short story '' Shouting at Cars ''. He has descriped a very identifiably enviroment for the reader with very common everyday scenarios. The short story '' Shouting at Cars '' is about a family of four living in a city. It is christmas and the family is on a trip. Dad is caring a large heavy box, tied up with red ribbons. They reach a brigde at the outskirts of their district and offer the great box to a troll living under the brigde. The troll accepts the box and the family greets him with '' Merry Christmas '' before heading off back home. Almost a year later a police woman shows up on the family's porch step, and asks the dad to come with to identify the trolls body. After the troll is declared dead and the family no longer has to bring him a great box each year. The mom, dad and sister is relieved. But the son goes back to the brigde the troll used to live under and starts contemplating about the life he and the troll had together.

As mentioned above the family consists of four: A mom, a dad and two siblings .

The dad and the siblings are related but the mother is a woman thier dad remarried. The stepmom's name is Magda, and the narrator's little brother is called Alex. These are the only persons given a name in the short story. The family is happy together but the responsibility of taking care of the troll every year has taken a toll on them. It is described in the story after the troll's death how relaxed they are.

'' What made me most angry was how everyone else in the house seemed so much more relaxed after the troll died. So light and warm and happy, once they were freed from their obligation. Dad even started coming home from work on time and Magda began cooking elaborate dinners. '' - P. 3 l. 103-105.

It is later on said that the narrator had a different relationship with the troll. He misses it and is sorry that it is gone.

'' This is not how it looked to me whenever I went there alone. The troll was different when they weren’t there. I was different when they weren’t there. '' - P. 3 l. 108-109.

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