Although Aimme Bender's story are related to fairy tales or fantasies, "Ironhead" really could be related to our world in more then one way. The story of the young boy with the ironhead, bearing all the weight on his shoulders his very similar to what some children go through in our society. Their parents may be irresponsible, or missing in action and often that child becomes responsible for themselves and quite possibly brothers and sisters at a very young age. It is very difficult to try to accept the responsibilities of an adult when your only 8 years old for example. That would lead to pure exhaustion, and many times kids cannot handle that and become either difficult to deal with or they may go to an extreme and commit suicide.
Also, for some reason when I was reading this story I pictured the human beings with normal heads as middle class to rich white people, while the pumpkins head may be a lower middle class of a different race. I don't really know why I pictured it this way besides the fact that a lot of the stories we have read so far have dealt with either outcast of society or racial/social injustices. Although this may seem like a left-field claim, I can make a connection with our society. Many times it is much easier for parents and children of certain races then it is for others and the amount of weight the world puts on their shoulders. (Shawn Parkhurst, 11)
I don't think you are in left-field at all in making the observation that the Pumpkinheads may be of a different social class and/or race from the Humanheads mentioned in the story. Rather this could be another example of how "Ironhead" parallels real life issues. It seems as though you see many connection between "Ironhead" and The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. Well done.
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