Popular Girls Essay

Popular girls is a short story from 2001 by K atomic number 18n Shephard. She is born and raised in rising York and her work has been print in several papers. The short-story sets in the early 80s where we get some insight in the life of five rich and popular girls. They atomic number 18 self-centered and foolt have the slightest inte substitute in different sight. Their entire life is about maintaining their image as a group. The setting is New York, which is the riches city in the US. The city is also known as The big Apple and The city that never sleeps. This reflects in the mentality of these girls. They do speed, and not weed, because they want to get through school as fast as possible. They want to live life in the fast-lane and do extravagant things. Every dissever of the text concerns some aspect of their life described in details. Every little thing about their life is mentivirtuosod. Their life and how they live it, is basically compose as some kind of guidebook to popularity. A very important part of this popularity is the labels and the famous places of New York. This just underlines the superficiality of these girls lives.Throughout the entire text, the cashier addresses the reader. The narrator seems to be a us and a we. Somehow it is someone within the group of girls narrating or the entire group as one mavin unit addressing the reader. By saying things homogeneous You know who we are(p.1 l.1) and You weedt get enough of us makes it very clear, that they are aware of their status. It peck also be a way of r apieceing out to the reader and making the reader remember how school was in the 80s. Many people could have certain girls in their mind when reading this short story. Even from the very first decry. The attitude of the text is a bit provoking. The first sentence is also a good example of this. By continuously addressing the reader, it keeps on having the effect of them being superior to not just other people, but you. As if you were actually there at the time. It is very clear that the narrator is focused on the us and you and them.The popular girls against the rest of the world. You cant be a part of their clique, but you can be a friend of the clique. This can be seen physically by their moat of backpacks (p.1 l.22).Their other friends can sit on the other side of their moat, but cannot be let in. These girls only focus on their appearanceand of how other people perceive them. They dont exactly worry about these things, but it constitutes their entire life. Where they go, where they sit, how they sit, it has to be the right way. They are not interested in other people and uncomplete are they in each other,Youre crying we say, pointing.(p.7 l.169) as if this is just a mere fact and they how no idea of how to act upon this. They only like the idea of themselves as a group of perfect friends, which is exactly what they are doing by saying Its a carrying into action of us, the group of us (p.6 l.147) and tint at you, we are saying. Look at you.We are happy together, part of something and not alone, and we celebrate that out loud.(p.149-151) their entire life is a performance of themselves and the performance of the fact that they are not alone. Perhaps they do feel alone in a life of rich parents that bring back dolls and pearls from business trips for their collection. thither is a conflation of identities between these girls as they dont work as individuals, but just as a group. This is made clear on knave 2 line 58. We walk in the formation of migrating geese. Here the author uses humor/irony to emphasize the slight silliness of the group when comparing them to poultry. They are basically a herd of animals dependent of each other. Even though they define themselves as a group, Stephanie seems to be the leader, as she is described as a slightly more individual person Were Kaethe and Alina, CJ and Sydney. Stephanie.(p.1, l.1) here she is singled out as their frontline figure.Steph anie is the tallest and also in the center of their geese-formation. She also dictates the idea of wearing these special rings, which they all obey. The girls have this special bond that consists of a strong friendship, but probably because they cant see a way out. Without the rest of the pack, they would feel hopeless. None of them dares to leave anyone behind. The ending is a picture of their friendship whilst they perform as a group, they also make a performance for each other. No one knows them, not even their family and not even their own clique. They put on a performance of their popularity, even for their friends. Somehow, without words, they push each other to do things that are considered cool. But none of them knows when to stop.Whatever happens will be performed in front of the group. We ask ourselves weather we can actually do this ()We are uneasy. Nothing about this whole thing will be graceful. No one is leaving(p.8 l.198-201) none of the girls wants to be the onechic kening-out, no one wants to be the one leaving the rest behind. Leaving now would be a kind of betrayal or a manse of weakness. Their obsession of being popular and someone important is a postmodern theme, also seen in Not yet, Jayette by William Boyd from 1981. Although he does not reach this purpose, he has the same goals and views of life as these popular girls. None of them will ever feel complete, with or without these materialistic things.