Well, this story escalated quickly.. In “Striations” restaurant owner Liam is on a date with Ellie, where the conversation turns sour after Ellie asks Liam a question about masturbation. Offended by her forwardness, Liam ends the date early and the two argue all the way to the parking lot. The next day, Liam wakes up to find Ellie and other girls destroying his apartment and taking off with his life savings.
I think this story does a good job of exposing the unreliability of online dating profiles. Many people say online they’re a “model” like Ellie, but actually have a less desirable career (such as an exotic dancer). I also liked how in the third paragraph parenthesis are used to show that Liam remembered certain information about their date so far, such as the fact that Ellie is a Democrat and she likes shows such as “New Girl.”
The best way to explain how I feel about this story overall is that it reads a lot like an exert from a larger piece. The main character, Liam, doesn’t seem to undergo a change. Even when he is tied to the bed he doesn’t regret treating Ellie disrespectfully the night before. Ellie goes through a change, but we only know that from reading about her and Liam’s conversation earlier in the evening: she started out seemingly normal, then quickly sexualized the conversation and turned aggressive. In my opinion, her change in personality would have had more of an effect on me if the story had opened with Liam and Ellie having one of the normal conversations discussed briefly in the third paragraph. Instead the opening just dives right into an inappropriate moment, so right off the bat I assume Ellie has been sexual for the entirety of the date. Also, the mafia or whatever Ellie is running isn’t really explained and the last line of the story, “See you in hell, asshole,” is unclear because I’m not sure if Ellie or Liam is saying it.
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