I
Live with You.
-Diverse
Position Science Fiction
For this section I read I live with You by Carol Emshwiller. This short story was an
unusual read for me until it was suggested that I put this into the context of a
fable tale. In this context what I viewed as questionable action in terms of it being believable.. The suspension of disbelief now takes a hold and everything make
sense. The story in itself is about a humanoid being that decides to follow an
unfortunate/fortunate and guides the woman into situations outside her comfort
zone. Everything this being does it does for her
“All the things I get with your money are for you. I
don't steal”
All this for the sake of entertainment at the woman’s
expense both literally and figuratively. But unlike similar stories of home
invasion and intrusion this one is taken from the point of view of the being. Additionally,
the reader is never explicitly told what the main character is. We don’t know
if it’s male or female, black or white. It is race less, formless, without
classification. This adds a subtle tone of mystery throughout the reading. This
in itself reflects the values of the majoritarian culture as the story takes
the assumption that the read itself is of a western viewpoint. The reader
follows both the life of the fable like creature and the woman it itself
follows. This creates an interesting dynamic as we follow the woman throughout
her mundane “western” life (going through the typical lifestyle of an arguably
western citizen). In the end the being ended up helping the woman come into her
own only to move on to its next victim.
This in turn showcases that the story itself follows
certain constraints/expectation from the reader. One of them being the fact
that the piece assumes that you are of a more modernized western culture. As
the lifestyle of the secondary character that we follow through the eyes of the
main character is more of the stereotypical American. She lives a solitary life
with a cat and works a typical 9 to 5 job. And the only excitement this
character experiences is due to the other. All in the name of entertainment,
(Much like how western culture tends to watch to be entertained.)
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