A woman on a roof

Figure 1. Up on the roof, 2008. Note: Copyright ipquk, (made available under a Creative Commons licence)

First of all, I knew Doris Lessing before we read her story. She has got the Nobel Price in 2007. And I was wondering how she writes, what kind of a writer she is. I saw that she writes plain(in a good sense) and clearly. She says in her story what she wants, what she intends and she does it without, you know, a pretentious register. Her symbols and the dialogues she wrote in the story are quite understandable. I liked her style.

About the story: Three different types of men seem to be perfect to emphasize the situation. Each of them think differently about the half-naked woman and through them we can see three different approach to such a woman. I liked Tom the most because he is 17 and he behaves naivly. The only one who talks with the woman is him. As soon as she showed her resentment at him, he felt depressed! That's a typical mood of a person at that age. I found that very symmpathic. And the gray sky is a good metaphor at the end, I think.

Additionally, I guess that the reaction of the woman could be because of the class of the men. They are workers and women often don't like workers. If the person who peeps were a handsome and rich man, then the woman would be likely not to show her resentment to him, don't you think?