George Mackay Brown’s short story ‘Andrina’ Essay

George Mackay Browns utterly stratum Andrina has an element of mystery which leaves the lector in peculiarity and carrys Andrina an extremely pleasurable read. Andrina is an old watermans granddaughter who visits him as a ghost when he dies however he does not know she is his granddaughter or that she is a ghost and is dreadfully upset when she leaves him. I think the main reason wherefore George Mackay Brown is so successful in qualification the story an enjoyable read is due to the complex organise of the story, the screen background and also its colligate to a mystical fairytale.The story of Andrina has a strong interesting social organisation of a story inside a story. The out story is in the present tense and concerns the old leghorn in his daily routine. The inner story is in the past and tells of the old boater boy when he was younger and of a love affair that he had. This structure makes the story intriguing as the ref at first does not know who the char acters in the inside story argon and thus it has a great sense of mystery surrounding it.Another interesting deliver of the structure is the fact that it is rotary in that it relates to the seasons. The story opens in the spend where the skimmer is ill and emotion that he has lost his good admirer and helperer Andrina. It moves on in the inner story, where the sailor tells of his love affair with Andrinas grandma. The summer conveyed happiness and helped hand over the tactual sensation that they were deeply in love. The love affair ended in the autumn when wildlife died out and the sailor discovered a terrible secret about Andrinas grandmother and then left over(p) the island. When spring returned in the outer story the sailor discovered Andrina was a ghost and why she had left. This let him understand and gave him the feeling of apprehend to move on. This structure is used to portray the inner feelings of the sailor and in my view is very effective.As well as the cyclic al structure, the earths elements are also referred to throughout the story. This reflects on the sailors old days and he often tells the reader of memories and links to the sea. One example of this is at the opening of the story when the sailor is describing Andrina She lights my lamp, sets the peat harass in a blaze, sees that there is enough water in my bucket that stands on the wall niche. here(predicate) the peat links to the element of earth and preempt and water are also menti angiotensin converting enzymed.This helps the reader relate to where the seaman lived, in George Mackay Browns homeland of Orkney. The land here is windswept and the descriptions of the elements help the reader relate to how bare it is. The story could not have worked in any other background signal. Another interesting point in this ingeminate is the description of Andrina in that she lights my lamp. This is symbolic and shows how she gave the old sailor light and hope and also comforted him. She is referred to with this symbolisation throughout the story, which gives her the image of a kind, sweet-scented figure. In the third paragraph she is also described with I judge her with the first cluster of shadows which has alliteration of the soft s sound. This gives the reader the impression she is sweet and innocent.George Mackay Brown literary skills are excellent in creating the proper atmospheres to portray various situations. When Andrina did not stick he used short sharp sentences to convey how shocked and distraught he was She did not come followed in the next paragraph by She did not come once again The repetition here shows how he was lamenting his loss and wondering why she may not have come. In another section of the story, the sailor had a bad dream where he had flashbacks to previous events in his life. Here the author used short and long sentences to convey to the reader the timidity that he was going through. This technique also highlighted sentences such as It was a black night. which made the ordeal seem even more lightless and terrifying.The story of Andrina, and especially the story inside Andrina, has many comparisons to a fairytale, which helps give it an element of mystery. It has the classic main theme of love and the ideal setting of summertime. Not only is the language archaic, but it is also very simple, equal in a fairytale, such as but on unrivaled particular day in early summer this boy from one croft and this girl from another distant croft looked at each other with different eyes. The sentence structure is very simple which makes it easy for every reader to understand.The tremendous perilous secret thing that the girl had to tell the boy also strengthens the mystery theme as the reader is, at first, left wondering what it is. The language in this section is very poetic, with lines such as lingering enhancement of twilight This gives the reader the impression the situation was completed and they were both very hap py. In this section the reflection of the sea are also used, an example of this being Far in the north-east the springs of day were beginning to surge up. This quotation conjures up twain images, one of the two peoples love growing stronger and secondly of the sea surging and crashing about.The combination of setting, structure and atmosphere make Andrina an excellent read. The story could not have interpreted place in anywhere apart from Orkney and the windswept emptiness gives the story an eerie atmosphere. George Mackay Brown has the ability to put the story together and make the reader ponder afterwards on what actually happened to Andrina. The question of whether Andrina was real or whether she was just a figment of the sailors imagination is left for the reader to interpret in their own way, which means the story has a steadfast effect for everyone.