Response to "Blood"

“Blood” deals with loss and mental illness. Much of the story centers on how the narrator manages, or fails to manage, her feelings about her father’s death. The narrator’s mother has an obsession with cleaning, and the narrator spends the story in a psychiatric ward. The story argues that mental illness is not necessarily the most defining characteristic of a person—the narrator’s mother is unlikeable because she treats her family poorly, not because she cleans compulsively, and the narrator is drawn to Kado’s kindliness, regardless of his illness.

I liked the line “Think speech impediment. Think paranoia and tremors. Think fighting dragons forever.” You use this structure several times, and it works really well. You did a good job of making a relatable character. I was interested in what she (he?) had to say, and I was invested in what happened to her. The relationship between the narrator and her father is believable. Though the narrator doesn’t attribute any negative traits to him, you convey his flaws through her description of him. For example, he did not handle his wife’s desire to go to Europe particularly well.

            The narrator does not change much over the course of the story. I think seeing more of the narrator at her current age but before her father’s death could give us a better idea of how his death changed her. Also, the frame narrative from her session with Dr. Walters doesn’t quite match the rest of the story. Only the very beginning and the very end of the story are se there. I’d like to see a little more of Dr. Walters and her interaction with the narrator. It would give us some insight into her relationship with the Sparks ward. I also wanted to see more of the narrator’s father and mother interact more. Does the mother have any redeeming features? What are some of the father’s flaws? Addressing the narrator’s life beyond the Sparks ward and her family might heighten the sense of loss. We would see what she is losing by being placed in the hospital.