Mrs. Blumer's Dustbins by Ee Pin Pang

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Re: Mrs. Blumer's Dustbins by Ee Pin Pang

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

Ee Pin did give us some warning that Mrs. Blumer was wound a little too tight, but yes, it did come as a shock when her internal rubber band snapped.<br><br>It is always the quiet ones that are the most dangerous ...<br><br>Robert M.
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Re: Mrs. Blumer's Dustbins by Ee Pin Pang

Post by Megawatts »

Very good story, very well written, and it grabbed my attention! <br><br>A monster in the kitchen isn't new, but this author gave it a new twist. An English teacher who follows routines confronts a monster that disturbs her way of life!<br><br>The monster doesn't want her, only her garbage. But her garbage is part of her fixed routine that now is part of her very existance. <br><br>She captures the monster--he can't be too bright because she caught him before using the same stocking techinque--and displays in insane pleasure in torturning him by systematically killing him! <br><br>Maybe she transfered her hate from the classroom to him! I don't know, except she did take pleasure in killing the monster. <br><br>The story is a very good read and leaves questions open which can only be answered within each reader's mind.<br><br>The monster's wife and kids at the end lead me to believe that they are more interested in finding food than revenge. <br><br>From now on I'm going to leave the kitchen light on!<br><br>
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Re: Mrs. Blumer's Dustbins by Ee Pin Pang

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

Consider the first 'Poltergeist' movie with its relatively speaking idyllic opening ... and the Grand Guignol stuff later with corpses popping up in the unfinished swimming pool. Perhaps if the story had been longer, Ee Pin could have made the transition less jarring; but he DID indicate that Mrs. Blumer was losing control (of her students, at first; then of herself).<br><br>The story was structured with a double twist -- Mrs. Blumer's headlong dive from too-tight discipline into chaotic violence (and subsequent 'recovery') -- followed by her visit from the Department of Poetic Justice (where her just deserts were to become the main course -- not just dessert ::)). The most disturbing thing about the story was its depiction of utter madness hiding behind a mask of normalcy -- emerging momentarily and then concealing itself again. If Mrs. Blumer had NOT been done like (and as) dinner, she might have gone on as before -- until something ELSE upset her routine.<br><br>Robert M.<br><br>Robert M.
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Re: Mrs. Blumer's Dustbins by Ee Pin Pang

Post by kailhofer »

The first time I read this, I completely agreed with the rest of you. <br><br>However, I did want to know why the blood from the eyes was black, but the rest crimson. (And why were there all of those distracting parenthetical comments?)<br><br><br><br>On second read, I think you're all wrong.<br><br><br><br>Her madness is foreshadowed throughout, and you weren't reading closely enough.<br><br>First, she sat down and "rationally" made a list of possible explanations, not once, but twice. That's crazy already. No one actually does that.<br><br>She did not eat well, and began to have nightmares about man-eating dustbins--after only the second time it happened.<br><br>She decides to stay up all night & watch instead of just being happy her garbage goes away. She cannot handle her routine being messed up enough she breaks her own routine even more to try to catch the "rat" involved. She doesn't find anything and becomes even more disjointed at her school. Her nightmares intensify--from seeing nothing!<br><br>She acknowledges to herself that she's on the verge of a nervous breakdown--mind you, it still had only happened twice at this point--and decided to stay up again because the emptying of her garbage was a crime in her mind: "Unauthorized and Unscheduled Disposal of Household Waste". Her delusional mind had already convinced itself that she was a persecuted victim--just because her garbage was emptied on the wrong day. <br><br>At this point her husband won't help her because he's afraid that she'll serve even worse meals, showing that such a little thing is preventing her from functioning normally.<br><br>The size of the monsters increase in her dreams, marking her continued descent into further madness.<br><br>Upon seeing the creature, she doesn't snap on a light, or call for the police, or scream for her husband. Instead, she jumps at it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not grabbing a giant critter in my house without looking at it first. Then, even after receiving excruciating pain, she wouldn't let go.<br><br>She awakes late the next day, cursing uncharacteristically. Then for the rest of the week, functions even more poorly at work. She personifies the creature into a naughty student, Alex. Blaming it for her troubles, her inability to cope. She plans to do it harm with a butcher's knife. That's a very personal way to punish someone, one where things are guaranteed to get messy. There's no halfway punishment with a great big knife--you either kill with it, or you don't. <br><br>In her words, "Catch it and string it up! Make it regret ever making trouble here! Yes, that’s what I’ll do! No more trickery, no more lies! Just pure punishment and for me, satisfaction!" Only the death of the alien will bring peace to her fractured reality, will relieve her desire to murder her naughty student, Alex.<br><br>Just in case we're unsure of her resolve, Mr. Blumer informs us that previously she poisoned the neighbor's dog, showing that her grasp over reality was broken before. She killed to set things right before. Plus he shies away from her "psychotic look".<br><br><br>All of this was before she hacks up the alien. <br><br>I say she was deeply nuts, and I think it came out well.<br><br>Nate
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Re: Mrs. Blumer's Dustbins by Ee Pin Pang

Post by kailhofer »

and Nate, no alien: a monster, please, there's a difference.
<br>Not an alien? I though it was Canadian. :)<br><br>But if you say it's a monster, that's okay. It must have been from Illinois instead. ;)<br><br>Nate<br>(Gotta love that Midwest rivalry thing...)
Last edited by kailhofer on November 29, 2005, 05:41:30 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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