Response: "the bleeps and blips of life"

“The Bleep and Blips of Life” is about Anne, a girl sitting with her comatose father in the hospital. As Anne struggles to accept that her father is in such a condition, her younger sister, Karen, comes to the hospital and the dynamics of their early family life is exposed. We learn that Anne’s parents played favorites when they were younger (at least the mother did) and as a result of much fighting and cheating, her parents got a divorce. While her father lies in the hospital, Anne and her sister try to decide the correct course of action to take. 

I love how much tension the story holds, the family ties are complex and real which gives the conflict between the sisters a firm grip on the reader, but other than some verbal disagreements, I didn’t get an overwhelming sense that the narrator needed to change her opinion. You could also add in the monetary reasons for pulling the plug or adding a phone call from the mother might shake up the narrator into taking action.

I feel like the title lacks a sense of raw emotion that I felt while reading this story because it really did move me. Almost all of us have been put in that uncomfortable situation and with a family like theirs, as readers are more invested in Anne’s connection to her sister and father. My favorite aspect was the use of flashbacks throughout the story. Although I do feel a few more small details about why their mother preferred Karen and why she disliked her first born daughter so much could boost the reader’s attachment to Anne. At this time I feel like we don’t know enough about our narrator.