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Reading #DominicCummngs narrative as a work of fiction (which it is, even if it recounts true events) is interesting on a few counts, eg gender and agency 1/n
For most of the story the narrator stands alone, sole heroic agent. He alone is responsible for protecting "wife and child". "I decided" he says. 2/n
But at the point of the drive to Barnard Castle the female voice enters the story. The wife, not the narrator, is fearful. So "we decided" and even "we drove". 3/n
This sets up an odd image in the reader& #39;s mind - two people each with one hand on the wheel? But that& #39;s not the point. This is the part of the story where the narrator is anxious, uncertain, not in control, fearful of claiming responsibility. 4/n
It& #39;s a brief wobble and then the "I" is back in charge. Running the show. Arranging the childcare. The female voice disappears completely once our hero is back to health. He has returned to "work"...5/n
...which for the purpose of this narrative needs to be kept entirely separate from "home", woman and child; the home/work binary structures the story 6/n
(It& #39;s an odd lapse of historical verisimilitude, given that the story is set in spring 2020, that the possibility is not discussed of a high-level white-collar worker working from home, even temporarily - but it helps the narrative) /7
Further close readings should discuss the appearances and disappearances of the boy (we could make something of his brief moment of agency - playing in a wood - before he goes back to his main narrative function as a problem) /8
And of course the fact, as has been pointed out elsewhere, that "my wife persuaded me to do it" is quite literally the oldest excuse in the book /end
