What struck me the most about all of these readings was their focus on absurdity and beauty in discomfort.
Absurdity is clearly shown through the ways in which throughout these stories magical or simply impossible events occur and change the course of the story without having profound impacts beyond the main character. This is most readily apparent in a story like void, where a fake pregnancy suddenly turns real. I did not fully understand whether this was actually a reality that she experienced or if this was some sort of hallucination after her speech with regards to Mary? Anyway, the aspect that interested me the most and that I will focus on here is that of the beauty in discomfort. Whether this is shown through the kindness and attention shown to the main character in void after her "pregnancy" is announced or the way in which the main characters period blood turns into a scene of magical beauty in the most boring red on earth. These, to me, show a certain beauty in the conception of the human body but also in the idea of discomfort. This concept is then continued through the dilemma of working women in the way that the character slowly realizes the value in the discomfort of free time. This is also shown in the way in which she accepts the blemishes of her character and the, not so subtle, jabs by her younger coworker after realizing the discomfort was because of her pride being hurt. This is something that I am hoping to be able to explore more fully in class as there are quite obvious connections to feminism within the text but also towards this specific concept!
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