Review of Short Story “Rest In Peace-Angel”

[YourStoryClub]

Short Story: “Rest In Peace-Angel” by Ruchira Shukla

Dear Writer, thank you for asking us to review your short story ‘Rest In Peace-Angel’. Please find below our objective review comment based on five key elements of short stories:

Character: Lead character and narrator is a dying rape victim who is portraying possible feeling of victim of heinous crime of rape. There are few other characters but they lived very short in the story, just for purpose of making the setting live and of meeting demand of the plot. Having very few characters and clearly projecting lead character throughout the story, as are done in this story, are very important for any short story. Furthermore, characterization of lead character is done beautifully. Her hope for life, her wish to get married, her being a loving daughter of her mother, and her aspiration to fulfill her father’s dream by becoming a doctor, all are very precisely and accurately depicted. Very well done!

Setting: Story uses very short timeframe, only few days. Using short time frame makes short story effective. Furthermore, transitions among timeframes are clearly marked by mentioning dates and thus avoiding any confusion. However every setting in various timeframes must appeal to more than one sense of readers. For example first part of the story effectively provides good setting as one can visualize the morning scene along with feel of piercing sun light when getting disturbed in morning sleep. Nonetheless the same vividness and detail are missing in other parts of the story. Couple of lines describing surroundings, without overdoing, are always effective way to provide a good reading experience to readers. One should use dialogues, short lived characters and description of happenings in surrounding to offer a live setting.

Plot: Although plot of story is very touching and sensitive, it is somehow felt lacking comprehensiveness. Story uses very powerful and touching start; end is also not any less. However happenings in middle are not so effective or detail that they make such a beautiful theme lingering in mind of readers for longer. Many events happen very fast in the story and thus are unable to meet touching start and emotional end. If this story is to be rewritten, we recommend writing more detail the agonising and inhumane suffering of the rape victim and her family.

Conflict: There is good amount of conflict, showing hope to live a normal life of a brutally raped and dying girl. However due to plain plot, story has hardly any scope to further heighten the feeling by showing her lover struggling with perpetrators of this disgusting crime or he running away leaving her on mercy of none, highlighting pain of her nears and dears, and describing desperate attempt of her parents to save her.

Theme: Theme is undoubtedly very powerful and focused as needed in a short story. However not all key elements could equally support it. However, if purpose of the story is to provide a touching message to society, it is beautifully carried out.

Having said the above, we strongly believe that story is an art and every art is invaluable – there is nothing good or bad as art is beyond boundaries of these adjectives. Therefore the creator is the best person to decide whether the creation meets her expectation. We like your story in total and our comments are just objective comparison with the patterns we observed in most liked short stories. We recommend you to write thriller or creepy story for practicing detailed setting and heightened conflict.

We also recommend you to read 10 Tips for short story writing by our Chief Editor.

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