The three works “Fatso” by Etgar Keret, “Beast” by Samantha Hunt, and “Mantis” by Julia Armfield all provide parallel motifs that reward examination of the ideas of transformation, secrecy, and intimacy.
In all three stories, a woman is both the protagonist and antagonist; there is internal conflict within each of them that creates the story. The internal conflict in each of these three stories is one that extends to the physical and fantastical; one protagonist is antagonized by her pubescent transformation into a praying mantis, another by her nightly shifting into a grotesque man from delicate, feminine form, and the last by a newfound nightly transformation into a deer, a beast.
The benefit of reading these stories together is that the transformations occur at differing points in the characters’ lives. For “Mantis,” this transformation occurs in adolescence, and the relationship it directly affects is a surface-level dynamic you would expect between a boy and girl who attend Catholic school. In “Fatso” the transformation most directly affects a couple newly embracing their love for each other, but not without hesitation. Lastly, in “Beast” the relationship affected is the deepest out of all of these stories — a married couple who retain glimmering bouts of tenderness and infatuation for each other, even after eleven years.
The protagonists in the stories are all at different stages of life and exhibit different levels of intimacy with themselves and with their partners and the other people around them. Despite this, they all share a common secret: a secretive transformative experience that affects them nearly every day or night since the spawning of their transformation. Extrapolating on the themes of secrecy and intimacy, I’d suggest that all three stories contain transformation after respective ‘peak intimacy’ has been explored — a potential first kiss, a sexual and romantic relationship, a marriage. These three examples go to show that despite partaking in what may be considered the most intimate act, greater intimacy lie behind the secrets we maintain in the dark and keep away from the daylight.
When the intimacy behind these secretive transformation is shared, there is subsequent transformation for the other characters. For the young, Catholic boy in “Mantis,” unfortunately this transformation is less than ideal, but it is a transformation nonetheless. In “Fatso,” the boyfriend goes through a transformation that relinquishes his doubts about his relationship and his nonchalant approach to love. In “Beast” it is revealed that the husband shares the same secret as his wife. For this story, it may act as insight into infidelity — the woman turned into a deer after a bout of infidelity, leading to the notion that maybe the husband has too –and it is unknown when such a transformation occurred, but both individuals end at peace, embracing their animalistic nature.
I hadn’t thought of how the young girl in “Mantis” is in a way the antagonist until I saw this post – on a fourth read it makes sense that she is both hero and villain. You make a very good point here – but might I add that in “Mantis” it implies a potential first time as well? Mark pulls her into a bathroom and states “I knew you wanted it.” It is obviously a failure, but I do like that point.
I like how you found the similarities between these stories, because I couldn’t focus on anything but the differences. I also never considered the fact that each story followed characters at different stages of life, that’s an interesting observation.
Jenna: this is a fascinating and persuasive reading of these stories. I’m particularly intrigued by this assertion: “all three stories contain transformation after respective ‘peak intimacy’ has been explored — a potential first kiss, a sexual and romantic relationship, a marriage.”