Varieties of The Fantastic in Fiction

This week the story that I have decided to write about is “The Dome” by Steven Millhauser. This story takes place in what I began to think was a normal world, but since this is a class about the fantastic, I knew that would soon change. A company has been producing dome structures that can cover properties. This dome was originally made for people with higher incomes but soon became more affordable and available to the rest of the world. There were mixed opinions about the dome throughout the story, but it seemed that these concerns were put aside by capitalism and the need for a certain aesthetic. We learn that the dome has now been placed over the United States as a whole (the fantastic element), and things that once seemed amazing and grand, such as nature and other elements, are not as amazing anymore. The dome takes away from these things and now life does not mean what it once did. I feel that things were not valued as much anymore and that people found comfort in the dome. It took away life from life, if that makes sense. The narrator talks about death not being a concern anymore and the bad things that happen within the dome also contribute to the aesthetic of the dome. I really enjoyed this story because it seems like something that can happen even though it is supposed to be something that is so wild and unimaginable.