— Anonymous
One of the literary texts that was challenging was the short story, “Real Doll” by A. M. Homes. By reading the title, one would assume that it would be about a child and his favorite doll. However, it was completely different where the protagonist imagines his sisters’ doll to be alive and hangouts with it. Furthermore, the parts that were very uncomfortable was the detailed analysis of how the main character had sex with his sister’s barbie doll. Furthermore, he displayed vulgar acts such as drugging himself and the Barbie so that things can go his way. Such acts of his were like a predicator who is preying on the innocents and the helpless. However, with further analysis and re-reading the story, the narrator was the one who was helpless. He was longing for companionship and love for a real person. His approach to Barbie can be interpreted as his way of practicing and familiarizing himself around girls. His helplessness is further evident when he takes valium before approaching Barbie which presents his nervousness and shyness that he feels around people. Thus, presenting the idea of how everyone is unique and different, the different methods and approaches to relax. One may consider talking to barbie doll weird but for the narrator, it’s completely normal and demonstrating how we all have a little bit of weirdness in ourselves. Reading such types of material or stories which push us out of our comfort is very beneficial because readers are used to reading contents that are generically the same, contents that are clean and not realistic. Reading such uncomfortable stories allows one to further improve their analyzing skills and understanding the themes of the story than being stuck onto some detail. Finally, such text should be frequently discussed to present how everyone functions differently.
