Ironhead

When reading "Ironhead" you have to understand the key concept being stressed upon and thats the everyday problems faced by children and even adults. People don't take the time to know a person before passing judgement. For instance in "Ironhead" the other kids that were Ironhead's age all thought he should be strong and fierce but instead he was just a nice boy who "preffered the sandbox over the grass field." This story also shows how even family will go against you if they don't like you for being different like the ugly duckling.
At the end of the story when understood the iron head represents all the stress put on someone on a day to day basis. The weight of his head was better/easier to handle when he was on his own and doing what he enjoyed most, the empty fields and playing in the sand. With Ironhead dying its almost as if he couldn't handle the weight of all the pressure and judgement everyone and everything put on him. The insomnia he had came from the stress of not being able to handle everything properly. And even though when was born his mother and father were upset that he was an Ironhead when he was dead they were at his grave watching over it making it seem like he was still alive so that even though he was different his memory was never forgotten.
Kevin Ostempowski Post 2

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)

Ironhead

In this short story by Aimee Bender, it talks about a family, whose heads are pumpkins. They come to bring a new child into the world who is quite unlike themselves, he has an iron for his head. An iron like we would use to take the wrinkles out of our clothes, well thats what he has as a head. I believe this short story has many underlaying stories behind it. I know we touched on this is class that the reasoning Aimee Bender gave this character an iron head to either to talk about the troubles children deal with in this day in age, whether it be bullying or being an outcast and not fitting in.

This story touches on that a lot and I believe that we all can relate in our own ways. Maybe past experiences or past traumas in our life that makes us relate to this ironhead character. He carries in the story an immense amount of weight like we all do at some point in our lives or in some cases most of our lives. I like how Aimee bender takes characters and changes them from ordinary to extraordinary. She captures the reader that way, giving the characters a sort of surreal being.

Cali Simmons (Post 11)

Words and Salt

Reading "Fruit and Words" confused me on three parts of the story. The first being the salt the woman sold for her fruit. The store woman said it was not normal salt but a different kind. I wondered how it could be a different kind of salt. At the end of the story I was also confused about how the fruit turned rotten after she had left the store. I thought it possibly was the salt the woman traded for the fruit. The woman could have found/had salt that only worked in a specific atmosphere.
The last part that confused me was the words she would make especially the gases. Then it came up in the story that it just made things easier to see and understand. When it came to the gases I thought the store woman was crazy on being able to make words out of gases especially since she could only see some of them, but as the story continued it almost brought out the strange fact she could possibly be a witch. The fact she had blood started that thought, and that she threw it at the womans car instead of something else. I also thought this because she didn't leave her store front and the fruit went rotten immediately after leaving the store.
Kevin Ostempowski Post 1

Fruit and Words

The fruit stand owner in Fruit and Words, though a bit crazy, attempts to simplify the world. She creates words out of what they describe and makes words tangible. This isn't a new concept, (children's books come to mind) but an idea that doesn't seem to be acknowledged by adults, though it is attractive. I think the reason why people loved this woman's projects so much is because of their simplicity. She could take materials from a confusing, complicated world and derive a simple and beautiful object from them. Viewers can take her art at face value; what they see is what it is. Rather than awkwardly trying to describe air or hope, we would be able to point at an object and say "That. That's what hope is." Bender writes about our desire to be able to simplify and understand this world.
Malcolm Abbey 4

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

Moral of the Story

In the story "Ironhead," Aimee Bender presents the readers with a well known lesson about acceptance in a very new and interesting way. Since the time we were little we have been taught not just to accept but to embrace the things that make us all different. We have learned that these unique qualities in each of us are something to be celebrated, instead of something that separates us. Although this message has been ingrained in our heads since youth, our society still uses differences to segregate others whether it be because of race, gender, religious beliefs, ethnic background, sexual orientation, physical appearance or even simply a person's likes and dislikes. Although we know that it is moral and right to be accepting of all, it is not necessarily something that comes easy to us all as humans. By presenting the reader with fantastical differences such as pumpkinheads and ironheads, Bender is better able to emphasize the message she is trying to get across. She catches the reader's attention through her interesting characters and is therefore able to teach us the same lesson we have been learning since youth in a new and exciting way.
-Cailee J 7

Irony of "Fruit and Words"

In her short story "Fruit and Words," Aimee Bender's use of irony helps her to convey certain messages. For example, when the narrator and the flat lady says that she was able to capture hope. She did so by attending numerous weddings and capping the bottle just after the couple said their "I do's." At this moment, the newly married couple has nothing but hope for a brighter future with their new spouse. After a 7 year relationship the narrator had just been left at the alter when her boyfriend got cold feet. Ironically, the narrator had absolutely no hope for a brighter future with her boyfriend. Furthermore, the narrator also breaks the hope. This symbolizes her current situation because her hopes were broken when her boyfriend decided against the marriage.

Another example of irony in this story is when the narrator realizes that the mangoes have rotted. After breaking the flat lady's words, the narrator left in a rush. Shortly after, she finds the mangoes she so desperately craved have become brown and covered with flies. They were no longer the ripe juicy mangoes she had bought just an hour earlier. This may suggest that the flat lady had some sort of supernatural powers, because not enough time had passed for the mangoes or the pit to rot.
-Cailee 6

Ironhead

No two people on Earth are the same. Everyone has differences and Aimee Bender displays this in "Ironhead". The child with an iron for a head represents people that come into this world with traits that are different than most. The child's parents also had there differences, having the heads of pumpkins. The child struggled with his peers and had a hard time making any friends because he was different, although his two sisters, who also had pumpkin heads, made friends because of their ability to play soccer. The child died of exhaustion and that's when people began to feel bad for him.
It's sad that people go through life like this. People are excluded because of their differences and it isn't right. Everyone has their differences and people should be embracing them rather than discriminating. Our special traits are what makes us who we are and one in a million, not one of a million. More people need to open there eyes and see this. There would be way less problems in the world if the population can be theirself.

Jake Halloran, 2

Fruit and Words

"Fruit and Words" by Aimee Bender ended kind of abruptly, with the narrator driving away from the fruit stand and the mangoes that she bought shriveling up as she got further away. To me the fruit drying up is negative, symbolizing her hope drying up from her relationship with Steve. She wanted the mangoes in her life similar to how she wanted Steve. The fruit drying up as she drove is her hope with Steve being left at the fruit stand to replace the hope that she broke.
But the fruit could also be looked at in a positive light. The narrator had the craving for mangoes and on her search found the quaint "Fruit and Words" store. The fruits had satisfied her craving but also she learns that she is going to be alright without Steve. When the fruits dry up and she gets out of Las Vegas, she has moved on from Steve and no longer needs the mangoes.

Jake Halloran, 1

Ironhead

In my eyes, the story “Ironhead” by Aimee Bender, is a simple metaphor for a child who is born with different characteristics than others. Not necessarily weird but eccentric. The Ironhead finds solace in an appliance store because he is not accepted anywhere else. All in all the weight is too much of a burden on the Ironhead and he grows weary of his life. After he passes away, his sisters bear two children who are also pumpkin heads.

However, when the recessive gene re-emerges the teapothead is born. Ironhead may not have received the best treatment that may have been possible for him, however with the birth of the teapothead comes another chance to understand differences and go about learning from one another and past experiences to allow for a better environment. In this sense, the teapothead has a chance for a better life and the essence of this story is just that.

(Behrouz Ashrafi, 2)

Fruit and Hope

The title of Aimee Bender’s story “Fruit and Hope” is very interesting to me in that the words fruit and hope are metaphors for not only the story but the main character. The woman had just broken up with her boyfriend and had a sudden urge to have a mango. Lo and behold, in the middle of the desert, she came across a stand on the side of the road selling mangos. After further examination of the establishment, the woman finds the word “hope”; the word symbolizing the actually feeling of course.

She breaks the word hope and in all sense losing it. However, the woman was looking for mangos and she found them. Being as she had just ran from her wedding, it is indicative that she was also looking for hope that she had somehow lost somewhere along the road. She found hope in the same place she had found the mango, however, unlike the mango’s, she could not acquire hope. The mango's where a representation of her life and at the end of the story, she only kept the mango pit. By throwing the rest away, she was throwing her life away as she knew it and the seed was a metaphor for the small piece of memories in which she would need to grow a new life from.

(Behrouz Ashrafi, 1)

Supernatural being or crazy old lady ?

In the story Fruits and words, one major twist resides in the fact that we never really know if the old lady is supernatural or just a crazy person. The whole story in the point of view of the narrator, and she goes through several mixed feelings. She never really know if she can trust the old lady, and even in the end, when she thinks that the woman is just crazy, there is still something that leaves her (and us) skeptical. The ending with the rotten mangos can be viewed as a final supernatural trait, as if the old lady, the shop and all it contained was disappearing from the world.

The presence of the old lady and the shop there seems to me as another magical character, as the narrator has never seen it before, and the shop seems to appear in the middle of nowhere at the time when the narrator was craving mango. It seems like it appeared just for her.

In my opinion, the old lady is in fact a supernatural presence, a devilish prensence.

Romain Dahan, Post 3

Weight on the Shoulders

The story "Ironhead" it shows how one can really be affected by bearing too much stress. The pumpkin head family was a very happy family. Both the parents loved each other very much, and they had children. The children they had came out with pumpkin heads, with the exception of the last child. The last child was born with the head of an iron. He would go to school, and he was not socially accepted just based on who he was and what he looked like. Due to all the social stress, I believe that is why he died.

Students these days go through the same situations. They might not die, but the stress takes a toll on them. Students who are not accepted for what they look like or who they are have a very difficult time to fit in a socially. The students usually keep it bottled up because they do not think their parents are going to care, and that really wears the kid down. I think this is what happened to Ironhead. (Nicole Butzke, Post 12)

HOPE?

In the story, "Fruit & Words," the narrator breaks the words AIR and HOPE. HOPE is more significant because that is what the narrator was feeling. She was hoping for her marriage to last let alone happen. But that did not happen. The storeowner says she went to Vegas weddings to capture the word HOPE. During every 'I do', she would capture the feeling.

The juicy mango that the narrator was craving, I believe represents the relationships the narrator carries. The words the story owner displayed were very appealing to the eye and so was the fruit. After the narrator broke her marriage, and words, I believe that is when her HOPE was officially over. When the narrator left the story, and stopped she looked in the bag. The mangos were rotten with insects on them. I think that represents her attitude, and it also shows that the relationship and marriage was over. So does the word HOPE exist anymore? (Nicole Butzke, Post 11)

Fruit and Words

In this story I believe that the title represents more then most literary pieces. A fruit is full, fresh, juicy and often complex, which is similar to a word. A word has multiple meanings, each word has a story to tell and a message, which relates to a fruit. Each piece of fruit is unique in its shape, color, taste, smell and feeling. In this story I think that the stand and the word choices are very important. I noticed that they didn't go through every word in the store, but only certain ones. I think that the author choose these words to try and display a hidden message about the lady to the readers.

The most relevant word being that she broke HOPE. At the very beginning of the piece the girl was in Vegas about to tie the knot, when suddenly her husband became ill, and the wedding never happened. As we read on we find out that the relationship was not full, fresh and juicy like the mangoes, but like the ones that were rotted in the bag once she got home. The HOPE for the relationship was broken and rotted. (Shawn Parkhurst, 12)

Pumpkin and the Iron

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)

Lonely World

The fact that this little boy was born into a family unlike himself is very depressing to me. I can't imagine growing up in a family that didn't understand all that I was going through because they had each other to lean on. He must be carrying so much weight and I believe that is exactly what the iron symbolizes. In class we talked about how Aimee writes about characters that are different from reality and they don't express their feelings easily. Iron head doesn't express himself in words. He also gets very upset when he sees his mother using an iron to iron his clothes. The fact that he wears clothes that are wrinkly makes him feel better because he isn't "using" any of his possible family members. He so greatly wants someone else in his family to be like him so he goes to the appliance store and talks to some irons.

In order to explain how the iron head is feeling you must look deeper into how Aimee describes him and the experiences he goes through. It is important to try to look deeper into iron head's feelings in order to grasp the deepness of the story. I believe that Aimee is trying to convey something about her own life. Possibly she was someone who was different from her family members and never really felt like she had a support group. She wants to tell her readers about her story but in a way they won't relate it back to her. She uses strange objects and personifies them to keep you looking deeper into her story. That is why her characters aren't easily understood because they aren't everyday objects.

(Kelcey Summers 12)

Believe

I did not get to finish my response to the question about how fruit is like words and how words are like fruit during the class time, so I thought I would do that here. Fruit is like words in the story “Fruit and Words” because they both require belief in them and the idea of this little store in order to be real. I think that this idea is also a reason why this story can be identified as “magical realism”. In so many fairy tales, the main characters need to believe in the magic in order for it to be real. When the narrator first walks into the little shack with all the fruit, she believes with all her heart that this is real, because she needs a mango. She needs this fruit to be real in order to feed her craving. She also believes in the first words that she sees: the solids. They are sitting right there in front of her. She can physically touch them in order to prove that they are real. As she gets led around on the tour, the narrator slowly begins to lose that belief in the words. She suspects that LAKE and OCEAN might in fact be TAP, and she feels like the lady who made them might have cheated in making these words because some of them were in glass tubing. But she does believe that BLOOD is real. As they move onto the gases, the narrator loses her belief in those words altogether because she can no longer see them. The science she learned is combating with her will to believe in the idea of gases formed into words. This starts the crumbling effect of her belief in the whole shop. She is no longer held captivated by these words and the beautiful fruit. She gets nervous at the sight of CAT and DOG in the solids group. As she drives away from the shop, she loses the belief in all of it, and when she opens her bag of mangoes, she realizes that they have rotted away due to the fact that the narrator doesn’t believe in the magic anymore.

The words in this story are like the fruit, again in the fact that they both have to be believed in in order to be real, but also in the fact that they both become weapons by the end of the story. The narrator throws NUT back at the woman in the shop as she calls her a nut, and the woman in the shop throws fruit at the narrator. I feel this is significant because the narrator throws what is least important to her at the woman, but the words are the most important to the woman from the shop. The same happens when the woman begins throwing fruit at the narrator. The fruit is much more important to the narrator. We don’t see her throwing her bag of mangoes at the woman. And we don’t see the woman throwing the words at the narrator, except for the word BLOOD, which I believe was a measured action because the woman could tell that BLOOD really made the narrator nervous. The fruit is much less important to the woman from the shop. She gets it as a trade, and sells it to get people to come into her shop, so she can get them to buy some words. I also think that the fruit is much more real to the narrator, and the words are much more real to the woman.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 12)

A closer look at Ironhead

I wondered if this story may have been about Aimee in a way or maybe someone she knew. I really saw this child as carrying alot of wait on his shoulders. He had no one to relate to. He didn't fit in and he was an outcast in his own family. Needing to be normal or at least as normal as his own family must have been a huge burden on him. The first thought that went through my head when I read he had died was he had killed himself. The family of pumpkin heads were different but at least they had each other to turn to. Iron head had inatimate objects; made up friends that's all.
This to me was quite a sad story, but in the end I think it sent a positive message to a degree. At the end a teapot head is born. It said life would be somewhat easier for tea pothead because he doesn't have the same weight to bare. I think this is a message saying people have passed and it's sad but some have passed and made life easier for newer generations and we shouldn't forget that. Iron head passed away but because of what he endured the family might know how to be there for Tea pothead and understand what he is going through. This would make a little less weight for Teapot head to carry.
Thomas Moss (post 11)

A fruitful relationship...

We've been discussing comparisons in class between words and fruit and what their different meanings may be in the story. We talked about how either one may relate to the woman's relationship. What I didn't hear mentioned was what if combined they're a metaphor for the woman's relationship? I think of it this way the man spoke WORDS of marriage and hope for a long relationship what the woman pictured was the FRUIT of those words and what that relationship would give her. In the end the fruit rotted words were broken thrown away. Seems alot like the relationship to me broken and tossed away.
I wonder if maybe this wasn't a mirage. There seems to be something alittle off about the whole fruit and word stand. It seems to appear almost out of nowhere. The woman has a weird face according to the description. The fruit rotting so quickly. What if this was all a mirage in the desert that she was having? What if the "NUT" picture was actually a representation of the main character and what was happening? Maybe she was going nuts.
Thomas Moss (post 10)

A Very Lonely Little Boy

Aimee Bender is a very interesting writer. Her stories may read like fantasy, but I have found that these fantastical stories have more to say about real life than stories that read like real life. This is especially evident in the story “Ironhead”. This story about a couple who have heads of pumpkins who have three children: two who have pumpkinheads like their parents, and a young son who has an iron for a head.

The emotions in this story can be applied to real life in several different ways. The young boy with the ironhead is very lonely throughout the story. His parent’s don’t know how to really communicate with him on the same way as his sisters. Neither of his parents have ever had to experience having an iron for a head, so they can’t truly understand how he is feeling. The boy doesn’t identify with his family. They are all different from him, and he feels like an outsider. He can’t sleep at all, which only adds to his negative feelings. He also doesn’t fit in at school because the rest of the children figure he is this big, tough kid based on his head, but he really isn’t. He is a quiet, shy boy, who has no friends. The poor boy is so lonely that he goes into an appliance store to visit his extended “family” of the irons on the shelf. He even has a little party with them, which frightens his parents when the come to get him.

The mother’s reaction to her son’s death was very realistic. Even though she didn’t know how to connect with him, she did love him with all of her heart. She mourned her son in a way that made up for the lack of connection with him while he was alive. She put all of her love and emotion for him into mourning him. She was appalled with herself a few weeks later when she realized that time will continue to go on, even without her son there. I have lost someone close to me, and that realization is sometimes the hardest thing to come to terms with.

I also think that the way Bender writes this story plays up the separation between the little boy and the rest of the world, including his family. She continually uses the title of “ironhead” and “pumpkinhead” when describing the members of the family. She hardly ever uses “boy” or “son” to describe the ironhead, which I feel increases the separation between the little boy and the rest of the world.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 11)

The burdens just to much

This story "Ironhead" was such a sad story to read for me. It reminded me of my childhood and how it feel to be different. I think the author was describe a need in a child's or any ones life the important need for friends. Also the terrible burden put on our children by the cruelty of other. And many of our kids today experience the same thing as ironhead. He was treat badly by other kids, parents didn't understand what he's going through. Ironhead was a kids who longed for friends but always was alone. These social pressure tore me apart from inside as a child pick on and segregated from the rest of the group. the story shows how through the death of ironhead how his head was to much to bear and through exhaustion just gave up. This can symbolize how the pressure affect our kids, where it gets to much for them and they just give up. Kids to day commit suicide today because the pressure is to much to bear. Just like fruit and works they hope is broken.

A life with and without Hope

In "Fruit and Works" the has an interesting way of using fruit to describe one state of life. The already has a miserable relationship and has been for far to long. I'll with the mango she never had which she for some reasoned desired out of no where and never knew what it even tasted like. this describe that good relationship and life she as always long for but never experienced or never knew the sweet taste of one. when in the store she describe this fruit as something amazing for the eye to see, the nose to smell and the mouth to taste. This is what she thought of as a perfect life, and for a moment everything alright. But after running away from the nut as she called her, she found those mangoes in her purse rotted to the core. This describe what her life really is, the life shes headed back too. And also describes a life with out hope. The hope of one broken, through relationship that are unhealthy and should of end years of goes. So maybe the author is telling us to run away from relationships like this one before we break our own hope.

Loneliness

"End of the Line" can be viewed as a story of hatred and jealousy, but it can also he seen as a story of acceptance. The "big man" in the story would represent a life of loneliness and a more structured life stlye, whereas the the "little man" is more care-free and appears to be on the more socialable spectrum. The little man has a wife and children back in his own home, and does not seem to mind his appearance because he is happy with his life. The big man is not married and is actually envious of the little man's life, because he himself is so alone. It is evident how the big man feels about this, especially when the little man attempts to tell the big man of his life back home. The big man becomes irritated and even throws the little man at the table leg and puts cleaner is his water to watch him hallucinate, which is pretty nasty. The little man has everything that he needs in this world, his worries are so small much like his actual appearance. The big man on the other hand, is alone and frustrated with his life making for big worries and hatred. The big man longs for a life similar to the little man's, but he is insecure about himself. This insecurity could be the reason why he forced the little man to undress himself. The big man wanted to prove that he was infact a bigger man than the little man, but in fact the little man was the real man compared to the big man who was just a giant shell.

The story of "End of the Line" is not unlike that of "Ironhead." Both stories have an underlying emphasis on loneliness with the characters from both stories being unhappy with their lives. The "big man" is alone and is jealous of what the "little man" has and becomes angry with the little man for being so content. He wants to have what the little man has but is unsuccessful at doing so, especially when he asks out the girl from work. He becomes so jealous that instead of torturing the little man any further he decides to let him go, and he wants to actually join the little man's society, but realizes that he can not. The character of ironhead is similar in this nature in that he is different from those around him. His appearance is odd and he is unique in his own way, but he is upset by this. He wants to be accepted by those around him and to have someone to talk to like himself , but he realizes that he is all alone. This sense of loneliness becomes too much for him to handle ultimately killing him.
(David Roberts, Post 12)

The Weight of the World

"Ironhead" was a rather intriguing but depressing story. It was a weird concept to incorperate people with pumpkin heads giving birth to a child with an ironhead, but I can see the underlying meaning to this analogy. The pumpkinhead parents are different from society in their own way with their two daughters possessing pumpkin heads as well. They would be classified as "social outcasts" in a modern society, because they are so different in appearance from people like ourselves. However, they seem content with their life and appear to dismiss the ridicule from any outside inferences such as the police officer from the store. They are able to blend in with the rest of society based upon the fact that they themselves are secure in their own little society of pumpkin heads (family). The ironhead child has no one, and represents a life of misery and woe. He has no one else like him and is made fun of by the outside society of humans who most likely see him as a freak. It was real sad when he wanders off to the convience store to talk to objects that look like him but have no life or meaning. He really is truly alone.

The character of ironhead is quite sad and unnerving. He is alone in the world with no one else that really looks like him. He is an outcast, a minority, different. It is evident from his behavior that he is discontent with his life, because he is always mentioned as letting off steam and is not able to sleep. The sleep portion of the story seems interesting because he is unable to do so, while the rest of his family can sleep without any problems. It is as if his overall appearance has even prevented him from performing an action that is achieved by all people no matter what their appearance is. In a sense, ironhead is a completely different entity entirely. He is made fun of and is not accepted by society making him truly alone in the world. When it was announced that he had died of exhaustion, it is as if he really died of being alone and was exhausted from trying to find his own identity, not because of sleep deprivation. His head, which is what set him apart from the others, was too heavy for him to handle and had tired him out ultimately killing him. It was as if the weight of his own identity was too much for him to handle.
(David Roberts, Post 11)

Mangoes and HOPE

When I read "Fruit and Words" I had to read it out loud. I tried reading the story to myself at first but I didn't really get the full impact then the second time I read it. The second time, when I read it out loud, I realized all the hidden symbolism behind her words. The first symbol is the mango. The narrator is at a point in her life where she is "stuck" in a relationship because of fear and loyalty. The fact that after her boyfriend walks away from getting married and she suddenly has a strong craving for a fruit she never had interested me. A lot of people, if they are in a relationship at a younger age sometimes feel they haven't experienced everything they could of. This in turn usually ends up ending their relationship later on or even marriage. I think that you should never stay in a relationship if you don't feel the true feelings that should be felt. This story kind of brings that thought back to me because she has lost hope for her relationship which in turn made her fruit rot. This symbolism is so strong but you really have to read into the story to really feel the fear that she felt of being alone.

I don't think you can read this story with a realistic viewpoint. Her story kind of took me away from reality for awhile and you really get to understand the character. I put myself in the narrator's shoes and realized how her life was. I realized how much she had lost hope and that Aimee Bender really wants you to see that hope was broken not only by the narrator but also by the boyfriend. The narrator's hopes of getting married were strong even though she knew how she really felt. Hope is something that can be rebuilt and its important that we believe that her hope will be rebuilt.

(Kelcey Summers, 11)