In The Gloaming Summary

Throughout Alice Elliott Dark’s, In the Gloaming, the theme refers back to how one deals and copes with the loss of a loved one. The story is about a thirty-three year old son, Laird, who is dying of AIDS, which “stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Acquired means you can get infected with it. Immune Deficiency means a weakness in the body’s system that fights diseases (and) syndrome means a group of health problems that make up a disease. AIDS are “caused by a virus called the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) .” Laird became infected with HIV and later developed AIDS. In the story, “AIDS have brought a disruptive element” to the family. The story shows how the parents of Laird handle and cope with their son dying, based on their relationship.

This allows us readers to sympathize with Janet finalizing the last weeks with her son. As Janet begins to care for Laird as she did when he was a child, he begins to “remember a lot lately. ” Laird goes home to die and “not only did he want to talk again; he wanted to talk to her. ” He begins to interview his mother to get to know her and shares of the fond memories they have together. The mother is surprised when Laird remembers of the time when she took him to the window and the few moments the purple light made the whole world in Scotland beautiful, which is called gloaming. In this moment, the most important symbolism is displayed to their relationship. They are trying to get to know each other and find their closeness to one another before he dies. Every day, Janet looks forward to the “gloaming” of the day because it is their time alone together as mother and son. To Janet, Laird’s death brought closure and acceptance because the mother holds onto what they shared together, the