Analysis and interpretation of ”Tell Me”

”Tell Me” is written by Zoë Sharp, and was published in 2006. The story concerns the problems of a neglected, lonely and insecure pre-adolescent girl, and the problems of social inheritance.

The story depicts the problems and worries of the troubled mind, of a young girl, who is the victim of a crime. Crime scene investigator Grace McColl, has to look into the young girls case.
Grace is trying to figure out what has happened to the girl, by interviewing her about the incident. The girl is heartbroken, and feels as if, the whole world has turned its back on her. Grace digs in to her past by reading her hands, and by using the experience, that her job as an crime scene investigator have
Grace made the girl tell her story, and made her open up, even though this really recquired an effort beyond normal from the girl, who has a hard time letting anyone into her life, because she is afraid to be neglected again, like she has tried it way too many times.

Another relevant theme is neglect, which both Grace and the girl have suffered in their lifes. This gives them trust issues, and they have a hard time letting people into their lifes. Grace has obtained, despite the fact that she has had a father that was not there for here, to become a crime scene investigator, she broke the social inheritance. Grace senses that the girl is stubborn and has got a strong will, and she will help her, to get a respectable life, just like herself.

The story can be set into perspective to Tracy Chapmans ”Behind The Wall”, which regards domestic violence – just like the girl from ”Tell Me” experienced with her boyfriend. In ”Behind The Wall”, the police says that they can’t do anything about domestic violence, and this symbolizes the lack of interference from the authorities in ”Tell Me”, where the girl was in desperate need of a helping hand, but never got it until Grace showed up, which might have been too late.

Another parallel can be drawn to ”Luka” by Suzanne Vega. ”Luka” indicates a certain hopelessness, in the many repeats of the lyrics, this