Aimee Bender has a way of captivating a reader and telling real life problems with fairy tale like characters. Aimee Bender uses characters like pumpkin heads in her stories. I think she does this because she does not want to make the character someone specific, such as a minority or someone with a disease. I think she likes to leave her stories open to interpretation and tries to teach morals without pinpointing specific people in society.
The story that i liked the most was Ironhead. It was a very emotional story and i believe it did a very good job in showing a common problem in society and how terrible it can be. I personally believe that the ironhead was born with a disease. You could tell from looking at him that he was not normal (because he had an iron head) but his parents did not know how to treat the problem. His parents tried to comfort him as much as they could. Ironhead could not sleep and he longed to be with people who understood him. The kids at school all thought he would be tough and athletic because he had an iron head but he was the exact opposite. I think when he went to the hardware store by the other irons it showed how he longed to be understood. When his mom asked him about it he just says nothing. I think that this is showing how he has given up hope. He asks to stay home from school because he knows that life will never get better and he has given up. I think that he turned his head away from the TV as a sign that he had given up.
The lesson that i got from this is that children with disabilities need to be provided with special care. If their needs are not met their lives could take a turn for the worse and could end horribly.
Steven W
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Aimee Bender
When thinking of Aimee Bender's novel "Willful Creatures" I think of her stories as being 'parables for adults.' Each story she writes offers a moral, a purpose or a meaningful message while containing some sort of strange or twisted element.
Aimee Bender's story "Iron head" offers a message of tolerance and acceptance while remaining absurd and strange. The character of the iron head boy has an iron for a head and is born into pumpkin headed family. He is unable to sleep and is very tired because of the shape, size and weight of his head. This is obviously the absurd element of her story.
Iron head's physical differences make iron head an outcast. He is made fun of and outcasted by his siblings and members of society. For example, a cop even makes fun of the iron head boy rather than being kind as he should be. The iron head boy ends p with severe depression and exhaustion and ends up dying at the innocent age of 4.
Aimee Bender writes this story in order to teach her audience to be accepting of other's differences whether or not you're okay with them. It is important to be tolerant because of the the extreme negative effects intolerance may have
angela feeney post # 7
End of the Line and Ironhead
This week we read short stories written by author Aimee Bender. She is an intelligent writer who certainly knows how to pull on the reader's heartstrings and suck them into the story. In this case she draws the readers into End of the Line and Ironhead by creating main protaganists who are just similar enough to make the reader feel sorry for them both. In End of the Line, the little man is physically trapped in a bad situation, tortured by the big man and unable to leave the cage to get out of the house. The little ironhead boy is also trapped, not just physically but also mentally. He is physically trapped because he is a child and mentally because he cannot connect with the rest of his family. His family, a group that is already ostracized to an extent, is still more excepted than he is. Having an iron as a head really pushes him into a new cage, one where the only escape seems to be death.
The two characters are very similar in their plights of confinement, so much so that the reader cannot help but make comparisons between them. Aimee Bender does a good job creating fantastical but believable characters who allow the reader to step into the story and walk within the pages.
The two characters are very similar in their plights of confinement, so much so that the reader cannot help but make comparisons between them. Aimee Bender does a good job creating fantastical but believable characters who allow the reader to step into the story and walk within the pages.
Post Seven: Outcasts in Bender's Works
In Aimee Bender's stories, "Ironhead" and "Motherfucker", both the Ironhead and the motherfucker are outcasts in society. Ironhead though, is an outcast in his family AND in society. He was born to a family of pumpkinheads, but born with an ironhead instead. This genetic mutation led to him being disabled. He finds it difficult to make friends in school and even though his sistes are different, they are still social and play sports; Ironhead just plays by himself in the sandbox. When he died the cause of death could be from lack of sleep, exhaustion, and lonliness.
The motherfucker goes around sleeping with single women that have children. He wines and dines them, speaks with elegance, and is basically like a Renaissance Man, except after he sleeps with them, he does not continue to see them. He will however, still keep in contact with his past flings but that is by the choice of the woman's; he does not ever get serious with them. When he meets the actress, he helps her with her acting by pushing her outside her comfort zone. The actress went from taking direction from everyone to listening to her own emotions. This caused her to win many awards but made the motherfucker realize what he was missing in life. He secretely longed for a companion, rather than going around sleeping with many women, which made him feel like an outcast.
Even though "Motherfucker" was less like a fairy tale and more realistic in comparison to "Ironhead", Bender still can convey that the main characters are outcasts and each of her stories has a lesson everyone can understand.
Pam Kawalerski
Post #7
The motherfucker goes around sleeping with single women that have children. He wines and dines them, speaks with elegance, and is basically like a Renaissance Man, except after he sleeps with them, he does not continue to see them. He will however, still keep in contact with his past flings but that is by the choice of the woman's; he does not ever get serious with them. When he meets the actress, he helps her with her acting by pushing her outside her comfort zone. The actress went from taking direction from everyone to listening to her own emotions. This caused her to win many awards but made the motherfucker realize what he was missing in life. He secretely longed for a companion, rather than going around sleeping with many women, which made him feel like an outcast.
Even though "Motherfucker" was less like a fairy tale and more realistic in comparison to "Ironhead", Bender still can convey that the main characters are outcasts and each of her stories has a lesson everyone can understand.
Pam Kawalerski
Post #7
Continued readings from Bender
We continued reading Aimee Bender this week in her stories "Ironhead" and "Motherfucker." These stories had the similar comparison of outcasts like the others did.
In Ironhead we saw the boy born with a head of an iron was an outcast to his family of pumpkins. The boy was teased and ignored. He became drawn to the point of loneliness that ultimately could have been the leading cause of his death. His mother did love him, but his own siblings rejected him and ironhead had a hard time living in the fantasy world Bender created for him.
In Motherfucker, the motherfucker was an out cast, but in a completely different sense. This was one of the few stories from Bender that could have been set in a reality setting. There did not seem to be much in this story that could have brought us top believe it was meant to be fantasy. The motherfucker did just that; he engaged i sexual relations with woman that were mothers. It was strange and he was an outcast of some sense but not as like the other stories. It seemed to be more of a weird fetish more than a make believe outcast. He in some way changed the starlet's life and maybe he did that to others. He could have been the way he was just to change single mother's lives and give them satisfaction and a sense of excelling in life. For example, the starlet became a better actress and won lots of awards because of her encounter with him. Things that would not have happened if not for meeting the motherfucker.
Bender's approach to morals is a key to her story and the messages are woven into her stories. You may have to be able to intemperate her messages but the lessons she approaches and morals apply greatly to our society today.
Scott Swan
Post 7
In Ironhead we saw the boy born with a head of an iron was an outcast to his family of pumpkins. The boy was teased and ignored. He became drawn to the point of loneliness that ultimately could have been the leading cause of his death. His mother did love him, but his own siblings rejected him and ironhead had a hard time living in the fantasy world Bender created for him.
In Motherfucker, the motherfucker was an out cast, but in a completely different sense. This was one of the few stories from Bender that could have been set in a reality setting. There did not seem to be much in this story that could have brought us top believe it was meant to be fantasy. The motherfucker did just that; he engaged i sexual relations with woman that were mothers. It was strange and he was an outcast of some sense but not as like the other stories. It seemed to be more of a weird fetish more than a make believe outcast. He in some way changed the starlet's life and maybe he did that to others. He could have been the way he was just to change single mother's lives and give them satisfaction and a sense of excelling in life. For example, the starlet became a better actress and won lots of awards because of her encounter with him. Things that would not have happened if not for meeting the motherfucker.
Bender's approach to morals is a key to her story and the messages are woven into her stories. You may have to be able to intemperate her messages but the lessons she approaches and morals apply greatly to our society today.
Scott Swan
Post 7
Sunday, March 6, 2011
"End of the Line" and "Fruit and Words"
Aimee Bender is an intelligent and unique writer from many different perspectives. In her book, Willful Creatures, there are several short stories that include rather interesting plots. This week we discussed specifically those of End of the Line and Fruit and Words.
In End of the Line, the key characters were the Big Man and the Little Man. This short story keyed in on the roles of bullying. As discussed in class, there are several ways to interpret the plot. From my point of view, I see it as the Little Man seeking fun and enjoyment out of the Little Man. Typically, people buy "pets" for companions, whereas in this case, where it seemed to be at first friendly fun, it turned into torture and cruelty. Too many self-minded people are filled with the ideas that animals, or in this case, PEOPLE that are smaller than them, have less power, no feelings, and can feel no harm. An example that I was going to reference in class was the Circus. People find enjoyment in watching lions jump through fire, elephant dance around being pulled by sharp wire and electric rods, and horses be whipped around the ring. Like this story, sympathy is lost when comparing Big to "Little".
I feel that Bender relates her stories so simply that everyone can interpret differently. In class we also discussed the end of this short on whether or not we believed that the Big Man was really sympathetic or not and the Little Girl who saw him wearing her hat. Personally, I believe that she wanted to believe that he was a good man, failing to know his true side and past of what just happened, and the Big Man was simply looking for a new target.
Another short by Bender that we discussed in class was Fruit and Words. In this short story I believe that Bender used several metaphors; the biggest one being the Mango. Throughout the story we learn that the main character is in a terrible relationship with her boyfriend of 7 years, Steve. The mango fruit becomes symbolic in her thirst for a better, more healthy relationship. I believe that the fruit stand was real in a sense of a "sign". I interpret the fruit stand to be symbolic of her trying to accept new things in life. However, when is got to the gas room, where she was forced to believe in something not physically there, she lost it and her fantasy ended. When arriving home, she found the mangoes rotted. This symbolizes her realization that the lady was right. One must come to the conclusion and realization when something is wrong and must start to believe that change is possible, you just have to have faith in yourself, and a little in others.
Courtney Bisher, Post 6.
In End of the Line, the key characters were the Big Man and the Little Man. This short story keyed in on the roles of bullying. As discussed in class, there are several ways to interpret the plot. From my point of view, I see it as the Little Man seeking fun and enjoyment out of the Little Man. Typically, people buy "pets" for companions, whereas in this case, where it seemed to be at first friendly fun, it turned into torture and cruelty. Too many self-minded people are filled with the ideas that animals, or in this case, PEOPLE that are smaller than them, have less power, no feelings, and can feel no harm. An example that I was going to reference in class was the Circus. People find enjoyment in watching lions jump through fire, elephant dance around being pulled by sharp wire and electric rods, and horses be whipped around the ring. Like this story, sympathy is lost when comparing Big to "Little".
I feel that Bender relates her stories so simply that everyone can interpret differently. In class we also discussed the end of this short on whether or not we believed that the Big Man was really sympathetic or not and the Little Girl who saw him wearing her hat. Personally, I believe that she wanted to believe that he was a good man, failing to know his true side and past of what just happened, and the Big Man was simply looking for a new target.
Another short by Bender that we discussed in class was Fruit and Words. In this short story I believe that Bender used several metaphors; the biggest one being the Mango. Throughout the story we learn that the main character is in a terrible relationship with her boyfriend of 7 years, Steve. The mango fruit becomes symbolic in her thirst for a better, more healthy relationship. I believe that the fruit stand was real in a sense of a "sign". I interpret the fruit stand to be symbolic of her trying to accept new things in life. However, when is got to the gas room, where she was forced to believe in something not physically there, she lost it and her fantasy ended. When arriving home, she found the mangoes rotted. This symbolizes her realization that the lady was right. One must come to the conclusion and realization when something is wrong and must start to believe that change is possible, you just have to have faith in yourself, and a little in others.
Courtney Bisher, Post 6.
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