danice

Tell us what you thought about the February 2005 issue!

Moderator: Editors

Post Reply
User avatar
Robert_Moriyama
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 2379
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Re: danice

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

This seemed to be a showcase for a few "classical" feminist tropes like ownership of the body and lack of voice. A nice change of pace from the usual fare here.

It bordered on heavy-handed at times and I felt the hogs were maybe a bit too reminiscent of HANNIBAL to be effectively horrifying for me, but overall, this was a strong, well-written story. Resonant and unrelentingly grim, which is always good.

Dan E.
<br><br>The scary part is that there is a current court case in British Columbia where a man is suspected of murdering dozens of prostitutes and other women and -- feeding the remains to the pigs on the family farm. (I think DNA testing had verified the presence of remains of 10 (or was it 17) women SO FAR.)<br><br>Canada -- we ain't got much of an army, but we have World Class serial killers! (Hey, maybe we could send THEM to Iraq ...)<br><br>Robert M.
Last edited by Robert_Moriyama on February 22, 2005, 08:58:09 AM, edited 1 time in total.
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

Jack London (1876-1916)
User avatar
kailhofer
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 3245
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (USA)
Contact:

Re: danice

Post by kailhofer »

Some prisons come without the high walls, bars on the windows, and guard towers. One, at least, comes in the shape of a pig farm...<br><br>Imprisonment was a resounding theme in this story. Danice was trapped in a small town, to its customs and expectations. Her warden was Victor, with guard hogs instead of dogs, and they forced her into a cell of her own mind. Finally, she seems to be locked into a disembodied existence on the farm, where she can still suffer the torments of Victor and his father, knowing there is no parole from her final solitary confinement.<br><br>In terms of the structure of the story, I would have liked a better indicator of when exactly the flashback started in the beginning.<br><br>There wasn't much detail in the set dressing. A good description of their home could have helped show readers just how bad Danice's daily existence was. A look around the farm could have added to the mood, adding depth to her despair. Finally, I thought it would have been nice to know what the characters themselves looked like, to see if Danice truly was a beautiful flower in this dung heap of a town. I wanted to see what in Victor she would have seen to go out with him in the first place.<br><br>Also, I've been around pigs a couple of times. Pig farmers do not smell appealing, and that's not "earth" you smell.<br><br>Danice was a complex character, with conflicting emotions. I liked that. Victor must have had to go out occasionally--slopping the hogs, or buying feed--giving her some peace in the house. He couldn't have always been there, but yet the story reads as if he was. Certainly, she had every right to seek escape, to try and soothe her inner conflict, but she didn't get that chance.<br><br>Victor, on the other hand, I thought was flat, two-dimensional, and I didn't believe the dating situation in this town was so bad that a pretty young woman couldn't do better. That is, he didn't have anything enough going for her to say 'yes' to a date. I didn't see that he was good looking, or athletic. She didn't even seem to be impressed by his attempt to be a bad boy with the knife. After their sticky encounter in the truck, he was nothing but immoral and evil, and I couldn't buy that extreme either.<br><br>So I found myself asking, does this story hold together and ring true? Here in Wisconsin we're no strangers to serial killers either (with Ed Gein and Jeffrey Dahmer to our shame), so I'd have to say, yes, I'd believe a woman could fall for the wrong man, get killed, and be fed to the pigs. Such things happen in real life. However, something about Danice's character prevents me from getting 100% behind it here, some special quality that I can't quite put my finger on. It says to me she could have escaped or done better, and that this wouldn't have happened to Danice. <br><br>I suppose it makes it more tragic that it did.<br><br>I have one question: Why didn't the dad speak? Scenes take place around him, but he never has dialogue--not even to chuckle or laugh scornfully at Danice. Did this have some significance? Some literary meaning I missed? I realize the conflict is between Victor and Danice, but the narrow focus of this struck me odd. She calls to an off-stage mother when she leaves on their date, but the dad is on stage, and would normally have lines in a drama such as this. If nothing else, I'd think that character would be used to show a lack of sympathy for Danice and her plight, that there was nowhere to go if she did escape, nowhere but to the hogs.<br><br>"Food" for thought.<br><br>Nate
Last edited by kailhofer on February 25, 2005, 12:18:04 AM, edited 1 time in total.
Hardcover, paperback, pdf, eBook, iBook, Nook, and now Kindle & Kobo!
Image
A cooperative effort between 17 Aphelion authors. No part of any sales go to Aphelion.
Post Reply

Return to “February 2005”