Ironhead

Bender is an incredibly interesting author who writes of ordinary situations with insane circumstances. By doing this, she allows the reader to abandon any preconceived notions and judgments and gain insight on society and human nature. In Ironhead she addresses society's inevitable progression towards equality by writing of a family of pumpkinheads who suprisingly give birth to a child with an iron for a head. The reader sees the difficulties the child faces with acceptance; both from himself and from others. At one point he leaves school and wanders into an appliance store where he finds other irons and sets up a mock family reunion. The reader is kept in the dark about how deep-rooted his problems actually are until he dies of exhaustion. The doctor tells the family that it's incredible he lived so long, considering the immense weight he was bearing. At the end, we find out that a pumpkinhead daughter has a child with a teapot for a head, though she doesn't have any problems fitting in, unlike her late uncle.
What this means, I think, is that both children were born with similar personalities and characteristics (both physical and mental), but because the child with the teapot for a head was born many years later, she didn't have to face the discrimination and hate that her uncle did. This wasn't because she was all that different from him, but rather the world around her changed to the point where she didn't have to carry the "weight" that he did. Ironhead had struggled to find a place in the world where he felt he belonged and was accepted, an issue the teapothead wouldn't have to deal with. Though the story was a bit depressing, it has a very uplifting message; things will get better, it just takes some time.
Malcolm Abbey, post 3