I closed “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” and was met with more questions than answers, but that was the point.

The genius of this George Saunders short story, and all of his others, is that it transports the reader into a reality in which the mind of the reader can seamlessly believe based on the values pre-set for them by society. You read about a low income household with a dad who tries with all his might to make his children proud and happy – yeah, that’s what a dad should be doing. You read about a prisoner who is sentenced to being a subject in scientific trials as his punishment – yeah, criminals deserve retribution (“Escape From Spiderhead”). But then you are presented with the true, and often unsettling realities of those scenarios without having ever expected it. 

Saunders’ stories delve into the flawed and twisted morals that have been normalized into nonissues by throwing questions at the reader, forcing them to reflect on why they believe the things, or behave the way they do. 

Semplica Girls made me dig beneath the layers of my understanding of humanity. Take for instance lawn decorations, in this story presented as immigrant women getting paid to be strung up by their heads to beautify the homes of upper-middle class citizens. Gnomes, in our world, are common lawn decorations. Why gnomes? Aren’t they creepy little men with pointy hats and big red cheeks; who wants to have that greeting anyone who happens to walk by their house? Sure, those ornaments aren’t causing anyone physical and emotional harm like the ‘lawn decorations’ introduced to us in the short story, but still – why gnomes? The utter strangeness of everyday objects can be seen through a whole new set of eyes when presented with a completely unfathomable and made-up example of something perceived in an imagined world to have the same level of significance. It made me deeply reconsider the origins of our traditions, things, and values.

But I realized the message could go even deeper than that. The polarization and lack of nuance and discussion that is currently driving our country’s political and social spheres isn’t something that just happened to have spawned overnight – the United States political system as we know it today only exists as it does due to exploitation, racism, and greed. Those have been the major driving factors that have influenced an immeasurable amount of United States, not to mention global, history, and therefore current society.

I needed to take a second and fully come to terms with that, because how often do we observe the systems and foundations that we operate by while acknowledging all of the violence and injustices that have been committed as things to be taken for granted? I let myself bask in that overwhelming feeling because I believed it would allow me to form a more intense connection to my sense of humanity. I’m still coming to terms with this Saunders tale; my thoughts on it are frequently convoluted, yet I take my time processing and further analyzing the structures I encounter on a daily basis. Structures that could, in a far-off universe, appear entirely bizarre and inhumane. This frame of perception shapes how I interact with people, and it gives me the critical thinking I need in order to navigate the tumultuous and complex world I live in.