End of the Line

In this short story by Aimee Bender the scene is set as somewhat ordinary until the main introduced to us in the beginning of the story purchases a small man at the pet store as a pet. He takes this man back home with him to treat him with kindness in the beginning then turn on him as the story goes on. He treats him with immense cruelty poisoning him, making him do obscene things and torturing him. This story I believe also has some underlying story within it.

I believe that this story could be related back to bullying like in the Ironhead short story. Bullying doest only occur in adolescents but in adults as well, harassment whether verbally or sexually is very common. In this story the big man uses both verbal and sexual harassment. It could be about how we treat each other, and the differences in people that we have a hard time excepting in some cases. Some people just don't know how to deal with their feelings or treat others. I believe this story portrays themes similar to the ones i've listed above, but again Bender turns her characters into the unusual which really does a great job at capturing the reader.

Cali Simmons (post 12)