Narrative Level “Letters from Zedelghem”

The events where Rey and Sixsmith were trapped in the elevator exist in the diegetic level. Rey became a secondary narrator when she started to narrate the story of his father‟s adventure as a cop. This embedded narrative exists as an explanation to Luisa Rey‟s integrity as a journalist. She was encouraged by his father‟s integrity and she wanted to be a good journalist just like his father. The second embedded narrative is told by Fay Li when she told her experience being a female worker in a workplace full of men to Luisa. Luisa isn‟t sure what response is expected. “A little context might help.” “My first week on the job, I‟m up in the canteen, fixing myself a coffee. This engineer comes up, tells me he‟s got a problem of a mechanical nature, and asks if I can help. His buddies are sniggering in the background. I say, „I doubt it.‟ The guy says, „Sure you can help.‟ He wants me to oil his b olt and relieve the excess pressure on his nuts.” “This engineer was how old? Thirteen?” “Forty, married, two kids. So his buddies are snorting with laughter now. What would you do? Dash off some witty put- down line, let ‟em know you‟re riled? Slap him, get labeled hysterical? Besides, creeps like that enjoy being slapped. Do nothing? So any man on site can say shit like that to you with impunity?” ... “Had him transferred to our Kansas plant. Middle of nowhere, middle of January. I pity his wife, but she married him. Word gets around, I get dubbed Mr. Li. A real woman wouldn‟t have treated the poor guy so cruelly, no, a real woman would have taken his joke as a compliment.” Fay Li smooths wrinkles in the tablecloth. “You run up against this crap in your work? Mitchell, 2012:136-137. The narrative where Rey and Li ate together in the canteen is located in the diegetic level. Li took the role as a secondary narrator in the moment she recounts her experience in the Seabord Village. This embedded narrative on the