Response to Adam Smith's "Animals"

            Adam’s story begins with the narrator stealing a jacket in Italy for his girlfriend.  He gives her the jacket and tells her that it is stolen.  This causes a feud between the two and a rift in the relationship.  From then on the narrator would vow to achieve excellence for Jenny.  However, a fatal accident resulting in his sister’s death causes him to turn the other way.  The narrator began to give in to his indulgences, which eventually corrupt Jenny.  Inevitably, Jenny becomes vile much like her boyfriend.  The narrator doesn’t even recognize her anymore and is left in confusion.

            I really enjoyed this story.  My only problem is that the author is willing to include so much in what seems to be very little time that it all gets jumbled.  I would either want the story to be more concise or prolong to resolve and embellish some of these conflicts.  I liked the irony of the story a lot.  Even though the narrator ended up corrupting his girlfriend is an interesting concept, it didn’t seem convincing enough.  I feel like in all I had a hard time sympathizing with these characters and I’m not sure why.  One of the things I really wanted to see that could help this problem would be dramatizing one of the scenes.  My choice would be the scene where he gives her the jacket.  Seeing some dialogue in that scene could really help the story and humanize these characters.

            Overall I really enjoyed the story.  Adam is a really talented writer and if he fixes some of these key issues, this story could be very compelling.  I like how he begins the story and gives us background information on the couple’s beginnings.  Maybe elaborating on these elements could shed light on the story’s true insights and its meaning of the title “Animals.”