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