Essay on Half-mown lawn

At some point, the rhythm of our lives all comes down to habits. Work and household becomes routines, and most importantly the people surrounding us become an integrated part of our lives. It all comes to a point where we are so used to having someone around, because he or she has always been there and we assume that he or she always will be there. When they suddenly not are there, it seems close to impossible to move on and let go of your old routines. In Dan Powell’s short story Half-mown lawn, the reader is introduced to Annie who is struggling with the difficulties of letting go immediately after her husband has passed away unexpectedly. When she is suddenly faced with having to reorganize her daily schedule, …show more content…

She wants to move on, as it is seen in the passage where she calls her son, “Annie picks up the phone and dials his number. ‘Mum?’ he says. “Is everything okay? Do you need me to come over?’ ’Can you mow the lawn tomorrow?’ is all she says. ‘Of course. You’re sure?’ She presses the end call button without replying.” (p. 64 ll. 9-14). This in particular shows that Annie is willing to let go, but in so many other instances throughout the story it is seen that she is not ready.
All the way through the story, the main character takes small steps towards realizing and understanding the death of the steadiest part her life, her husband. But as Annie takes small steps towards recognition, so does the reader. The structure of the story prohibits the reader to understand the whole situation from the very beginning. Actually, it’s not until towards the end, it is fully revealed, that Annie has lost her husband, even though the reader is under the impression that something intense certainly has happened to Annie, to rock her world like this.
So every small step Annie takes, the reader takes with her, giving the reader a similar, if not the same, puzzled and incomprehensive feelings Annie are having. The same thing goes for the author’s choice of narrator. With the choice of an objective, on the surface very neutral 3rd person narrator, the reader is kept in the dark as long as