Penelope Gilliatt’s short fiction exemplifies the twentieth-century phenomenon of the de-centered narrative. Her stories often disregard traditional plot structures, focusing instead on themes such as Slavic culture, gourmet dining, and music appreciation, among others. Gilliatt’s works are known for their thematic continuity and recurring motifs, such as the frequent use of the skull image in her collection What’s It Like Out?.

The De-centered Narrative

Gilliatt’s fiction often challenges the traditional Aristotelian narrative structure, which is characterized by a beginning, middle, and end. Instead, her stories eliminate or eschew one or more of these narrative stages, leading to a form of storytelling that lacks a cohesive plot. This de-centering of the narrative also disestablishes classical logic, as seen in stories like "Living on the Box," where the limitations of logic are juxtaposed with inherent chaos.

In "Fred and Arthur," for example, the story does not follow a linear progression but instead presents a dyad of Arthur’s life with and without his comedic partner Fred. The absence of a traditional plot structure allows Gilliatt to explore themes more freely, often focusing on the complexities of human relationships and the passage of time.

Recurring Themes and Motifs

Throughout her collections, Gilliatt frequently revisits themes such as the superiority of human intellect over computerized authority, the significance of old age, and the quirks of language and communication. Her stories often incorporate elements of Slavic culture, gourmet cooking, and music appreciation, reflecting her diverse interests and background.

In What’s It Like Out?, the skull motif is prevalent, with the word "skull" appearing in seven of the nine stories. This motif is often associated with themes of death and the passage of time, as explored in "The Tactics of Hunger" and "Come Back If It Doesn’t Get Better." The collection also delves into the theme of old age as a time of psychological and intellectual superiority, as illustrated in stories like "Cliff-Dwellers."

Influence of Social and Technological Trends

Gilliatt’s work often comments on contemporary social and technological trends, such as anticomputerism and Freudianism, as seen in her collection Nobody’s Business. The opening story, "FRANK (Family Robot Adapted to the Needs of Kinship)," satirizes the rise of cybernetics and the mechanistic displacement of humans. This theme is echoed in other stories within the collection that reflect on Freudianism, socialism, and astrology.

The nine stories in Splendid Lives further explore societal themes. The titular story features a racehorse-owning nonagenarian bishop and his octogenarian sister, offering a subtle critique of the British class system. The collection as a whole juxtaposes trades, professions, and the landed gentry, often highlighting the absurdities of class distinctions.

Existential Themes in Quotations from Other Lives

Quotations from Other Lives explores existential themes through stories that often feature characters experiencing social displacement or grappling with their identity. The collection opens with stories that focus on proper names and identity, such as "Break," where a Czechoslovakian man of Scottish ancestry changes his name to align with Nazi-harassed Jews.

Other stories in the collection, like "Teeth" and "When Are You Going Back?," explore social displacement and identity through the lens of relationships and personal choices. The concluding stories in the collection highlight the insights and vitality of the aged, reinforcing Gilliatt’s recurring theme of the superiority of age.

The Role of Language and Wordplay

Gilliatt’s stories are rich with linguistic observations and wordplay, often exploring the peculiarities of language and communication. Her collection Lingo is particularly focused on this theme, with titles like "Hic Haec Hoc" and "Ex Libris" contributing to the thematic effect. The titular story examines the psycholinguistic differences between referring to...