Gap of Sky

A gap of sky

During our journey through life, we are faced with many obstacles. Some of these obstacles will happen in the transition between childhood and adulthood. Young adults are often faced with obstacles such as peer pressure, drugs and other temptations. These temptations can keep young adults from choosing the right path in life, thus changing their lives for the worse. In Anna Hope's short story, "A gap of sky", from 2008 we are introduced to the nineteen-year-old student, Ellie, who is experiencing this transition and these temptations firsthand.

Ellie is the protagonist of the story and a university student. She appears to be living alone in a room on campus in the city of London. We are not directly told that she lives on campus, but it is hinted:

"She has to pee. She thinks of the hall toilet, at the other end of a chilly, uncarpeted corridor"(P.2 L.5-6)

"(...) Fags... Student shop"(P.2 L.33)

Since the toilet is located in a corridor and she is in her room where there is no toilet, one can assume that she is in fact living on a campus where the students in the hall share a toilet. The second quote shows that the student shop is closer than any shop where one would normally shop for cigarettes, so again we can assume that she is living on campus.

The education which Ellie is attending is not of any significant importance to her. She blames her parents for forcing her to take the course, and she cares more for partying and doing drugs, than doing her homework and going to classes:

"It was their fault she was doing this bloody course in the first place" (P.3 L.66)

In fact she has forgotten to do an important assignment about Virginia Woolf; an assignment that she has already postponed once before:

"Needs to be handed in at nine. She's already had her extension. She remembers the letter the stomach-lurching letter,"If this lack of application continues we will have no choice but to consider your place on this course."(P.3 L.37-40)

Although Ellie has forgotten to hand in assignments before, she is still upset about the impending threat hanging over her head, namely the letter she received about getting kicked off the course.

Our protagonist shows signs of addiction to drugs throughout the text. On several occasions it is mentioned that she needs the drug to get through the long night of writing she has ahead of her. In case she should run out of the substance she knows exactly where to get it, proving that she has been living this lifestyle for quite a while:

"Coke. Does she have any left? Find the wrap, in the bra. The bra, in a tender little pile on the floor, curled around knickers. Yesssss!"(P.2 L.30-32)

"There will be time for everything: Time to get ink, to get cigarettes; maybe even to get a bit more coke."(P.3 L.54-55)

There are multiple things in the text that gives us the impression of Ellie being a young woman heading down a dark path. Some of these things are the partying, the excessive cursing, the drugs, her messy room and just her general approach to life.

Even though Ellie is currently walking down a dangerous path, she is not completely beyond salvation. As we follow the protagonist through the congested streets of London in search of ink, she starts to think about life and death. It is blatantly obvious that Ellie is utterly exhausted by school. In her own mind, the only way she can stir the remaining embers inside of her is by doing drugs, but as the story progresses she begins to see the light again. She convinces herself that she should stop doing drugs, and as she enters a shop, she comes across a small jasper stone that holds some sort of meaning to her, because she starts to think of her mother's love, and she reaches an epiphany of some sort. She finally realizes that it is love that binds individuals together. This is the love that Ellie has been missing for a while, and most likely what led her to her drug abuse, because she thought of drugs as an alternative source of love. This is an essential part of the story, because once she realizes this, she finally decides to turn her life around, which is proved in the latter part of the short story through a few examples:

"Ellie begins to feel a little better"(P.4 L.97), "Ellie feels