‘They Gave Her A Raise’ by Frank Sargeson

They Gave Her A Raise by Frank Sargeson is a short story about what parents are willing to do (or not do) for their own children. Mrs Bowman, a divorced woman, is going through a tough time from a financial point of view, so in order “to make ends meet she took on cleaning jobs several days a week.” One day, while preparing dinner at Mr Doran’s, they hear a big explosion which they both know it must have happened at the nearby ammunitions factory. It is here where Mrs Bowman has sent Sally, her 17-year old daughter, to work, so that Sally could provide an extra income to the household.

With workers having hands “blown to smithereens” and many of Sally’s friends dead, will Mrs Bowman send her daughter back to the factory? More importantly, will Sally come back home in one piece?

They Gave Her A Raise is written in the first person and has a simple, informal style. Although writing an unpretentious story, the author chose not to use quotation marks for the dialogue. There are quite a few instances of New Zealand slang, such as “Bull’s wool” (nonsense, rubbish), “Doolan” (a proper name that refers to a person who is a Roman Catholic), “slung off” (to mock, to make fun of), and “roused on” (to scold).

Frank Sargeson was a New Zealand novelist and short story writer who was born in 1903. He died in 1982.