The Dead Goat
In "Pastorlia," the characters receive a Dead Goat to eat each morning. They are expected to "skin it with a sharp flint" to entertain the visitors that watch the story's two central characters. For them, the goat is a symbol of sustenance and survival. One morning, however, they wake to discover that no goat has been delivered. They begin to grow hungry and upset, which drives the plot of the story.
The Hats
The beginning of "Winky" is set at a self-help seminar, where attendees go to learn how to achieve "Inner Piece." All the attendees must wear "mass-produced paper hats," based on their level of experience with the self-help program. For example, "White Hats were Beginning to Begin," whereas, "the Gold Hats... had Mastered Living" (69). It is an absurd image, which gestures towards both the ridiculousness of the self-help program but also the incredible vulnerability and lack of independence of those who attend.
Aunt Bernie's Body
Perhaps the most shocking image in the collection is found in "Sea Oaks." The story follows a family as they bury their Aunt Bernie. Shortly after the burial, however, they find her back at their apartment as thoguh nothing had happened. At first, Aunt Bernie has the "same perm, same glasses, [and] same blue dress" in which she was buried (112). Slowly, Bernie's body begins to decompose. One character returns home to find that "one of Bernie' arms is now disconnected and lying across her lap" (118). It is a grotesque image, and one that is meant to upset the characters in the story for the way they treated Bernie during her lifetime.
The Depiction of Women in the Barber's Unhappiness
The story "The Barber's Unhappiness" features frequent and detailed objectification of women. The story's protagonist, a barber, looks out of the window of his shop and studies that women that pass. For example, "he ogled the old women and pregnant women and women whose photographs were passing on the sides of buses" (137). It is as though he is incapable of seeing a women without judging her appearance. While this imagery may be upsetting and uncomfortable, it is a central facet of the protagonist's character and one that reveals his desires and motivations.
