This week, I read the short story “MonsterHuman” by Kjersti Skomsvold. It is a first-person narrative about Kjersti and her somewhat scattered thoughts and overbearing insecurities. Toward the end, the reader learns that young Kjersti was almost killed in a traffic accident. When she returns to school, she is bullied because she has to wear a bandage on her face. The story is translated from Norwegian by Becky L. Crook.
Since the short story is so personal and from a first-person perspective, I made Kjersti the central node of the network graph. The entire narrative is told through her eyes. Throughout the story, she briefly mentions snippets about: her parents (as “Mom” and “Dad”), possible siblings (Espen and Åsmund), her great-grandfather, great-aunt, an animal named “Cita”, an inanimate object named “Halliball,” and several other ambiguous, mysterious characters. Kjersti associates a location, memory, or piece of imagery to each character, which makes the story so intimate. This Google Fusion network graph illuminates how Kjersti is the center and largest node because she connects with every other named character in some memorable way. She is the glue that holds the story together.
Click here for the Interactive (Google Fusion) Network Graph!
However, this network graph has its limitations. For example, I wish that I could have highlighted Kjersti’s stronger connections, such as her mother, who she interacts with and mentions the most. Some of her other connections are more mysterious and hard to tell how close she feels toward them. Because it is a short story, it is difficult to build an effective network graph with all of the important details, such as how the traumatizing accident happened, why Kjersti is so sad and anxious, or how her great-grandfather passed away. The network graph introduces all of the characters to pay attention to throughout the story because they are connected to the main character in different ways, but it does not paint the whole picture or tell the same story due to the lack of words.