thing whilst telling herself she should do another. The ending is open and it is up to the reader to
imagine what will happen to her later on. Will she write the essay and make a change, or will she
keep on walking on the same path as before and become more and more wrapped up in her own
misery?
The title “A Gap of Sky” is ambiguous. It tells about the actual event of Ellie seeing a gap of sky in
the story, but it is also meant metaphorically. She sees a little way out of her unhealthy existence,
but it seems like it’s only a gap, only a question of time before the gap is closed by grey clouds and
she will be back in the same routine of doing drugs and ruining her life.
In the animal world, there’s a term called a displacement activity. It describes a specific behavior
of an animal in great danger, doing something completely irrational, which does not contribute to
escape the danger in any way. This term fits very well on Ellie, who throws her life away because
of the threat of failure.