Astrological Emptiness in Steve Almond’s “The Problem of Human Consumption

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In Steve Almond’s story “The Problem of Human Consumption”, it revolves around the theme of loss, morning, and grief. Almond’s story focuses on a widowed father who is passed on to raise his daughter single handily. The story discussed a day in which feelings of morning and deception are brought out among the characters. The feelings of loss, morning and grief in this story have greatly manifested the way this story was written and interpreted. After breaking down Almond’s story and reanalyzing it, it can be determined that through his use of the parallel of astrology (space) mixed with his way of selective word choice and use of symbolism that he is able to strongly and effectively support his work.
According to the Oxford dictionary definition, astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world. Based on this definition, it seems that astrology has a strong correlation to body movements, human affairs, and dimensional space. In the story, there is a scene where Jess’s father explores her room, and in this scene it is observed that “There are two desks, one devoted to her schoolwork, the second to her recent fanatical interest in astrology.” (Almond 142). After analyzing this quote and after defining what astrology is exactly the study of; it can be determined that the mentioning of astrology in this story serves as a parallel in which body movements, actions of the characters, the author use of words and symbols are analogous to astrology.
Throughout the story it is brought up that Jess is intrigued by astrology; Jess’s fascination in astrology is used symbolically as a way to discuss the movement and affairs related with ...

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...e author was discussing the tragic death of the wife, reassuring to the theme of loss and grief and as well with the parallel of astrology implicated in his work. It can be determined that the theme of loss, morning, grief has in fact manifested on the way the text was written in terms of use of parallels and symbols. The parallel and use of symbol strongly and effectively contributed to the manifestation of his story.
Astrology and space acted as a small aspect located in-between the lines of the story, but yet in fact when broke down and analyzed it serves a deeper meaning for the text as a whole. The overall themes of the story, which includes loss, morning, and grief manifested in the making of this story. Over all Almond’s form of writing which included the use of parallels and selective word choice served as effective support in making his story convincing.

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