I'm discussing Sea Oak today in class. I read the story before for a creative writing class, and even though I knew what was going to happen this time, I could not help freaking out. Resurrected Bernie is just plain scary.
I've been trying to compare the resurrection in Sea Oak to something else we've read. I immediately thought of the Poe short story we read, since it involved someone being buried alive. Though it is not have many similarities, it does involve someone coming back after death. I also thought of the vampire stories, but I don't see Bernie as a vampire. I guess, if anything, she's a zombie with a functional mind. She's not trying to eat anyone, she just wants a better life.
Thoughts?
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Yeah I really dont see anything evil about Bernie at all. I kind of like this idea of a contemporary zombie where she just shows back up. There's no reason given for it or anything like that, she just wants to hang out and give life a second chance. She doesnt even mention ill will towards being murdered. It reminds me of an early 90's comedy called My Boyfriend Back. A teenager named Johnny comes back from the dead to be able to go to the prom. It's not the greatest film ever made but is kind of sweet. I really liked Seaoak because it followed a similar theme that most of todays stories had in common that we havent really seen that much with this anthology which is a really strong sense of humor in these stories.
ReplyDeleteTara, in what context did your creative writing class read "Sea Oak"? Was it in a collection of Saunders' stories, or was it in an anthology? Do you remember how it was discussed, what it was used as an example of?
ReplyDeleteI read it in an anthology for Prose Tour last semester. I absolutely cannot remember the name of the anthology, and it's driving me crazy. I think we discussed point of view and narration when we read this story. We also read "Pastoralila" by George Saunders.
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