Holly and Polly, by Graham Swift

Holly and Polly, by Begoña Devis

SUMMARY

Holly and Polly are two young girls who work in an assisted reproductive clinic. Holly is cheeky with men, she likes saying that they work in an introduction business and teasing them, making them guess what they do.

Holly is also irreverent, she likes making jokes, like creating Latin phrases to describe the sexual act, such as “penis in vagina intro-duxit”, and answering “et semen e-mi-sit”, as if it were a chorus of monks.

Polly is amazed at Holly’s nerve. She’s also shocked at his blasphemous behaviour, despite having been raised as a Catholic. But at the same time, Polly is attracted to her. It is the attraction of opposites, as Polly is shy and quiet, meek and mild.

One day, Holly asks Polly out, who realizes that she is also a lesbian, and that makes her very happy, because she has fallen in love with her.

Polly thinks about how unlikely it is that they ever met. It is as difficult as both, the sperm and the egg, meeting at the right time in a pot at the clinic, which they enter the next day as a couple. And she is also thinking about how ironic it is that the fact of playing God creating a new life is in the hands of two lesbians, who never mixed eggs with sperm in their private lives.

Nonetheless, they’ve found each other, and Polly thinks they don’t need to be ashamed of being a couple. How can they be ashamed of anything in a place where eggs and sperm pass through their hands all day? They have met in the right place. They are happy there, wearing green, like two peas in a pod.

 

PERSONAL OPINION

My personal opinion is that it is a difficult story to read, because it uses a large amount of colloquial language and expressions unknown to me.

As for the story itself, the author is ironic all the time about the fact that two lesbians have in their hands the ability to create new lives using spermatozoa and ovules.

Deep down, he is ironic about how things happen in life, how unlikely it is that the things that happen to us really happen to us, or that we meet the right person at the right time. Actually, everything is amazing in life.

It is also a reflection on the fact that everyone can lead the life they want, where they want, without being ashamed of it.

QUESTIONS

What can it be, the relation between the title and the story?

What do you think of artificial insemination? And what about being a mother without a father? Or about surrogate mothers? Would you prefer one of these methods, or adopting?

What are the two different meanings of the word “date”, or what is the pun between “dating agency” and “getting the date right” at the beginning of the story?

“How things come together in this world”: what do you think is best, design or random? (Think about deciding sex, eyes colour, skin colour…)

Why is it a joke to come from Kildare and have to wear green?

Why is their job similar to being God?

What can it be, the “touch of red in her black hair”?

Do you believe everyone has their “type”? Is there a different type for every different person?

Why does Polly mention Northern Ireland?

Do you trust in young people for important jobs?

For a couple in love, what is it better, to be opposites or to be similar?

Who can give a better piece of advice, a person that is “in” or a person that is “out”? For example, a catholic priest to a marriage, or an out looker to a player.

What do you know about Wilmslow?

Can you guess at a first sight if someone is in love, or if a pair of friends are “friends with a benefit” or lovers?

Are you able to know someone’s sexual preferences at first sight?

 

VOCABULARY

home in on, edge, give up, fellers, youse, turn-off, turn-on, mucky, comprehensive, B.Sc, scrubs, teasing, brashness, being up for it, plainsong, had me in stitches, shred, smoothie, buck passer, lark, detachment, gash, tilt, toss, scrub cap, pod, bumped, coy, canny