Reader Response #4

"Motherfucker" & "Ironhead" by Aimee Bender

After reading both of these stories, my reactions were kind of the same: What the hell?!  With the story "Ironhead," I did not really realize that this was magical realism until about the middle of the story.  I thought that she was just describing the way they looked by using objects.  Although this story is magical realism, I could relate to it.  When Ironhead was born, he was different from all the rest of his family.  Even though I was not different immediately after I was born, I grew up to be different.  Both of my parents like different thing than I liked, but they still loved me all the same and treated me just like a daughter should be treated.  When I went to school, I was always the different one too, just like Ironhead.  I was always known as the chubby girl, and I never grew out of it until I was in high school. 
After reading this story, I felt sad for the family that lost their Ironhead.  Even though he was not happy, wondering why he was different than his family and his head looked different than everyone else's, his family loved him very, very much.  I could feel like mourning of the family, because by the end of the story, I realized I used to be an "Ironhead."
After reading "Motherfucker," I was kind of taken aback.  I did not think that this story was going to be exactly what the story was entitling.  While reading, my emotions were flying everywhere.  I was upset, happy, and sad.  I think what really got me in the story was when the "mother fucker" had snagged the starlet.  I thought things were going to end, no more fucking mothers.  It all looked so hopeful, until it all got ruined, just like it usually does with him.  He, a normal guy besides his bad habit, had won her, a movie star, over.  It seemed like things could not get any better.  He was playing hard to get, reeling her in more.  This is when I thought he had liked her for sure, and was not going to let her go.  I was extremely upset when things did not work out, and he never called her to make another date.  I was unimpressed.