More than a bitter coffee in New Orleans’s ground

“In every way that counted, I was dead”, this short but, profound sentence may introduce readers to a world where it will be easy to be or feel identified with the main unknown character.

Gaiman, the author of Bitter Grounds, describes in what seems to be four different diary entries, the story of an unknown man who is heading south and west leaving aside all what he knows and cherishes. The main character is portrayed by the author as somebody who is lost inside himself and who does not want to wake up anymore feeling “resigned to existence”. On his way to nowhere he meets different characters which in time will play an important role on his life. Is he dreaming? Is he dead? Or is he just lost in between two worlds?

Bitter grounds have characteristics which may be linked to Young Adults Literature (YAL). Such features include the length of the text, which is short indeed, since the story has no more than 3 pages. The type of language used, which is not complex. And the events on the plot are related to teenagers. Equally important are the themes and situational archetypes seen in the story, for instance, the endless questions about “Who somebody is?” and “Where does that somebody belong?” Last but not least, the search for self is an important topic in YAL. Assuming that all these features found in YAL are present in Bitter grounds, this paper aim is to prove that the former can be considered an example of Young Adults Literature.

Turning now to the questions of the main character seen as a teenager, which may be put up to discussion since there is no evidence that the unknown character is in fact a teenager, or even an adult; still there is the possibility to analyze the way he expresses as similar to the way in which a teenager may express his or her ideas. In relation to that, readers may think that he is a teenager since his mood is kind of dispirited, sad or even blue. These may be well portrayed with the following extract,

“Inside somewhere I was screaming and weeping and howling like an animal, but that was another person deep inside, another person who had no access to the face and lips and mouth and head…”

It’s of common knowledge that teenagers are passing through a mourning of the lost body and in a way they may feel a little bit down or depressed or even look grim. Also it may happen to them that they do not recognize themselves anymore like the character that says that the person inside him is not the same as the one that is in the outside. The character seems like an adult having some teenager issues.

Considering the idea of this character feeling depressed, a connection with questions about who someone is and where does that someone belong, may be established as regards the topics that are commonly found in YAL. As we read the story, we get to know that the character does not recognize him and that he is heading south and west and that he has thrown his cell phone perhaps desiring that nobody contacts him. We even do not know his name. Here the search for self is present but twisted because he is not searching for himself, he’s leaving himself. Similar is this to what some adolescent experience when while they change their physical appearance and start mourning the lost body because that is a signal of their childhood now finished.

In Bitter Grounds, the impossibility to clearly identify whether the main character is a teenager or an adult, does not affect its connection to YAL since the character’s feelings, thoughts and experiences might be similar to the ones an adolescent may feel, think or experience. A long with these, the book’s length, of no more than three pages, also applies to YAL characteristics as well as the simple vocabulary used. Reasons which prove Bitter Grounds should be considered as an example of YAL.