Ficton Packet 2

This week's class was centered around 'longer-short' stories. We looked at two examples in the Fiction Packet 2. The two works that we discussed were a bit tricky, but filled with different twists and descriptions. The psychologically written stories were both open for interpretation.

In Brian Evensan's Internal, I found that there were many ways of looking at the content. The story begins with an intern discussing the general tasks and ideas that he develops during his 'internship'. I really enjoyed reading this because as the story progresses, I began to notice a sense of a psychological change in the character. In the beginning, the intern starts out confident in his 'role', stating his knowledge of the job and seems quite eager to have this job. He appears to be very naïve and he looks up to his boss. In class we discussed that, perhaps, he is not an actual intern, but a delusional patient. Towards the end of the story, I saw many signs of paranoia and insanity that developed slowly. My favorite part of the story was the very end when he fears that he is being watched. I find it ironic because the whole plot of the story is that the intern must observe the doctor's brother. However, I felt that the character became so frazzled and confused from his task and paranoia began to set in. This somewhat proves the theory that he is a mental patient, and not an intern. For example, he discusses his interest in stabbing the brother with a pen, but fearing he might do the same. Evensan says on page 69, 'No object to block the holes, though perhaps I can discourage him from using them. I had a sharp object, I could attempt, hiding beneath the hole, to plunge it into his eye'. I feel the internship was taking over his mental stability, leading him to insanity.

In addition to the content of the story, I also noticed the title, Internal, connects with the meaning of the story. In class we listed three words that relate to the plot, “Internal”, “Intern”, and “Interned”. The meaning “intern” does not necessarily have to be a literal intern, however, but a prisoner, or someone held captive. I think this intern is really a patient describing his sense of being trapped. The emotion of the story becomes much more paranoid and anxious, which can relate to the 'internal' feeling of the character.

The second story that was discussed in class was Thalia Field's A:I. I found this story more interesting than Internal because of the form and structure of the story. I noticed that the layout of the story was more like a poem. There are many small paragraphs that are broken apart, as well as random thick paragraphs. In addition, the content in the small paragraphs are quite different than one another, which was open to different interpretations. I thought it was pretty cool how Field set up the paragraphs to fit the title. For example, in each paragraph, the beginning letters alternate from 'A' to 'I' in a pattern. Field also says, “'A' sounds like 'I' when spoke', which can give the reader the idea that the third person may actually be the first person, and vise versa. Another thing I noticed about the form was it was mainly the character's thoughts, rather than dialogue. However, I found there to be random dialogue in the right margins. In class, we discussed that the dialogue could possibly be the therapist talking. The story seemed so personal because the character describes herself as being silent during the entire session. So rather than hearing the discussion between the therapist and patient, we got to hear the more emotional and psychological aspect of the character.

I feel that the character remained silent throughout the session because she wanted to appear to be stronger than the therapist, or even overpower the therapist. This can be expressed in the part when she talks about a woman in a confessional booth, not saying a word. Then, talks about how the priest has an angry response and shakes the booth. This can be her inner fantasy to get a reaction out of the therapist. I also feel that the character was emotionally trapped, by symbolizing a bat or a moth. She talks about how the moth was so desperate to find his heart, that he ends up dying once he gets to it. This could be a reference to her own life, meaning she feels trapped. She even says on one of the last pages, 'I feel a constriction in my chest. What can I say to get you to open the window? That kind of transparency is suffocating'. The window could perhaps represent the feelings of being trapped and isolated, as well.