In “The Goodman of Wastness” and “Selkie Stories are for Losers” both of the authors talked about transformation from a seal to a human and sometimes a human back to a seal. Both men in the stories was walking around and found naked women swimming near the sea and in the pool and decides to take their skin. The women have to get married to the men and they have children with the men, but after some time they find their skin that the men have hidden and go back to the sea to never return.
When the man in “The Goodman of Wastness” saw the naked ladies, instead of turning around and giving them privacy, he watched and crept closer and took one of the lady’s seal skin. This part of the story reminds me of a peeping tom who took clothes away from the woman, so she has no choice but to run around naked or be with him and have her clothes back. Sometimes that could be a joke but only with your friends, not with strangers, because then it is not funny.
In the “Selkie Stories are for Losers,” the daughter of a selkie works at a diner to help pay bills because her mom left when she found her skin. One night the daughter forgets her car keys inside the diner, but it is closed. She runs into the niece of the owner, and they break into the diner to get her keys and drink wine. We find out that the niece, Mona, has a strange relationship with her mom because her mom just cries, which makes Mona upset and she takes off to get some fresh air.
I can relate to this because I have a strange relationship with my mom and when she starts crying in her misery I just want to leave and never return. I find peace by being around and in water and if I was mermaid I would live in the sea. I feel like my mom left me even though she is still here physically, and I know when gets the chance to run she will and won’t look back because she only cares about her feeling and her freedom.