Story Analysis: To Kill a Child (Att Döda Ett Barn)
Beforehand everything is too early
I think a lot about possible different outcomes, and the impact I-and others- have on how situations turn out. Sometimes, I have to correct myself that I acted with what information I had at any specific time. Slowly, I'm getting used to do the fact that I exist in the here and now, acting on what I know and perceive at this specific moment.
The narrator of Stig Dagerman's To Kill a Child (Att Döda Ett Barn), often repeats that "Afterwards everything is too late." The omniscient voice that tells the story sees the death of the titular child coming from a distance. The reader is informed that soon, a child will die, presumably hit because of the reckless driving of a happy man, on the way to the beach with his girlfriend. Nobody, not the driver, his lover, the child nor the child's parents sees the accident coming. Each character acts on what he or she knows. Of course, the blame falls on the driver. However, he too acted on what he knew at the time: the road was empty.
The point then, is that the driver should have acted on what could happen, instead of what he thought was happening. "Afterwards everything is too late" is a fitting conclusion to this short story, made as a persuasive statement against speeding.
As a person, all I can do is exist in the here and now, take precautions for the future else some bad thing might happen. This bad thing could, or could not take place. Not just in the context of driving a car, but also in other situations.
Yet, I also think that beforehand everything is too early. Some things you can work to prevent, while others just happen. As I get older, I start to remind myself that not everything is within my control. Not everything can be prevented. Some things just happen.
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