The balancing act of “show and/or tell” in Confirmation by Alina Grabowski
Alivia Mantel on the delicate balancing beam of show and tell.
In Confirmation, Alina Grabowski manoeuvres the delicate balance beam of ‘show and/or tell’ with expert ease. She creates a rich, complex narrative in a short piece, presenting characters with depth and authenticity. Confirmation is a coming-of-age story, told from the first-person plural perspective of four teenage girls as they grapple with the disappearance of one of their female classmates. As a young woman, I find it easy to relate to the girls in the story, but I think Grabowski’s mix of showing and telling allows everyone to find some element of themselves within the emotional journey of Confirmation.
Grabowski seamlessly weaves recollections of the past into the piece, giving the reader a sense of not only the long history the girls have shared together, but also the traumas they have experienced. When Frances considers whether the girls “know the guy who took Gemma”, the narrator “think[s] of Dylan, who pushed Celia’s head into his crotch when they were alone in his bedroom”, and “Patrick, who trailed Sammy’s bike in his truck because he said he liked the view”. The nonchalance of the simple “yeah, maybe” that follows these recollections demonstrates how commonplace incidents like this have become in their lives. This tiny portion of the text gives us such a wealth of information, without feeling like boring exposition. Grabowski tells us about the incidents of the past, but she shows us society’s indifference towards sexual assault through just two words of dialogue.
As the girls struggle with their faith, Grabowski dips down into their thoughts, as well as painting striking, expressive pictures with her imagery. The girls’ parents ask them to “try harder” to be engaged with the Church, and the narrator remarks that this is said “as if it hasn’t always been for them”. She tells the reader that they “inherited [their] faith before [they] could speak”, claiming that “protest” is “simply part of the ceremony”. Their doubt in the Church is reflected in the imagery the narrator uses at their confirmation, likening the colour of the Bishop’s eyes to “the artificial blue of mouthwash”. After the girls hear that Gemma has been found dead, with a male suspect in custody, their defiance becomes more obvious. Grabowski shows us their rebellion as they “untangle the braids and buns [their] mothers constructed only an hour ago” in the Church bathroom, “aware of [their] thighs, cold against the icy tile…aware of [their] waists, sore with the indent of panty hose”. These small details create an image of discomfort and confinement, showing us the emotional battle they’re experiencing when attempting to place faith in the Church, exacerbated by the tragedy of Gemma’s death.
We, as readers, often don’t accept an author telling us how to feel. Instead, we respond well to situations or feelings we can relate to. If an author weaves together their ‘showing’ and ‘telling’ effectively, we enjoy caring for their characters and feeling empathy for their problems. Grabowski subtly encourages our sympathy for the girls, who are struggling to reconcile their issues with their faith, and deal with the sexual assault and mistreatment that has seemingly become a common occurrence in their society. Personally, this story made me extremely emotional, shining a spotlight on the severe need for change in society’s attitudes towards these issues.
I think my own writing will benefit from this analysis. The mix of intricate character description and scene-setting that Grabowski uses to demonstrate her characters’ actions, while subtly (yet extremely effectively) conveying the messages within those actions, is effortlessly done. It’s obvious she chooses carefully which details to include in her descriptions, which add extra layers of meaning and depth. The piece has inspired me to put more emphasis and specificity into the littler things, finding subtle ways to show my message without directly telling the audience what it is.
