Amiee Bender Readings

Amiee Bender uses some very different styles of writing to get her point across to the reader. She uses both fabulism and magical realism to create her story and deliver her message. These styles engage the reader with their creativity and openness of interpretation. I do view these stories messages to be similar though.

In the first story we read, "End of the Line", we see her use of magical realism more than her fabulism. The story starts off with a man searching for a pet to keep him company. The story, however, take an magical kind of turn when he ends up purchasing a little man to be his pet. He enjoys the man at first but the enjoyment quickly turns to abuse. He proceeds to drug the little man and put him down his pants. Near the end of the story he suddenly has a change of heart and allows the little man to go back to his home.

In "Fruit and Words" we find a woman in an abusive and unhappy relationship that comes to a head when she is left at the alter by her boyfriend of seven years. On her trip home she has the urge for something she has never had before, a mango. This is symbolic of her wish for a fresh new relationship. Once again to this point in the story it seems to be a realistic description of a persons life. Yet, when she goes to a store to buy some mangos she seems to have a fantasy or daydream. She sees the word of a product made by the product itself, and on her way home the mangos she purchased rotten rapidly.

The moral I got from both of these stories is that it is important to be careful what you wish for and realize that your actions can greatly affect others around you. In "End of the Line" the big man purchases a little man because he thinks it will help solve his loneliness, yet he tears the Little man away from his family and hurts him. He gets bored with him and in the end has nothing positive to show for his purchase. The woman in "Fruit and Words" wishes for a new relationship but just like the mangos rot so can relationships. It takes work and not wishes to make positive changes.