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Schule > Englisch > Dear Nobody by Berlie Doherty - summary

Dear Nobody by Berlie Doherty

Summary:

Helen and Chris are seventeen years old and live in Sheffield, England. Whereas the story happens they are preparing for their exams in English and music. They also love each other. One day Helen finds out that shes pregnant, she keeps it a secret for a while.
When Helens mother finds out, she urges Helen to have an abortion, makes an appointment, takes her to the hospital, but Helen leaves. Her mother forbids Chris to see her unless he plans to marry her.

Helen tries to cope with her problems with writing letters to her unborn baby, chronicling the lonely and also strangely exciting months of pregnancy, decision-making and about the relationships between the family and Chris. She also finds out that she isnt ready for Chris and finishes the relationship between them.
Among other things she finds out that her mother was born out of wedlock, at a time when illegitimacy was a serious social problem. After that she understands why her mother is so unhappy about her pregnancy. Helen addresses her letters to Dear Nobody, since there are so many people around her, who want to convince her that whats in her body isnt a person.
Chris goes on a hiking trip in France, passes his A-level exams, meets a new girl who is interested in him and prepares for university, all the time missing Helen. The day she has the baby, he breaks the barrier and bikes to the hospital to meet his daughter, Amy. With no clear decisions for the future, the two open a new door at least to friendship.

Extract out of the book:

Dear Nobody,[]
The bed was high and the sheets were so stiff it was like lying between postcards. I lay on my side with my eyes closed and with my knees pulled right up to my chin and I tried to imagine what you look like, little Nobody. You were twelve weeks old. You would be like a pink little tadpole. Id looked you up in a medical book before we came. You would be nine centimetres long. You weighed about fourteen grams. [] (p.70)

Differences between book and film:

In my opinion the film is much better than the book, because in the book you have to read loads of letters from Helen to the baby to understand the book. On the one hand it is interesting to read, what a pregnant girl is telling to her unborn baby, but on the other hand it is partly boring. I think the producer of the film found a good solution for this problem. In the film Helen tells the letters to the spectator, while the story is going on.
But in general the two things have the same plot with no differences. And both are intelligible.

Words:

• to urge: jmd. drängen, überreden
• chronicling: chronologisch (zeitlich geordnet)
• altered: verändert, umgewandelt
• born out of wedlock: unehelich geboren
• illegitimacy:
• convince: überzeugen
• sheets: Betttücher
• stiff: hier: ungemütlich, steif
• tadpole: Kaulquappe
• partly: teilweise
• producer: Regisseur
• spectator: Zuschauer
• plot: Handlung
• intelligible: allgemein verständlich

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