Puffed Rice and Meatballs

Emily Smith

Professor Smith

ENG 110

19 September 2016

                                Puffed Rice and Meatballs Response

The short-story Puffed Rice and Meatballs by Lara Vapnyar is in and of itself a very relatable one when it comes down to the message the author is trying to give us, the reader.  The first story starts off as Katya (third person), the protagonist, explaining her story to her so called lover.  We know just in the first couple sentences that Katya has grown up in Communist Russia.  Katya’s want and need to impress this man that she is with, makes her unable to tell her true background of who she really is.  As the second story (told in the first person) gives us the more in depth version on how Katya actually wants to tell her stories.

        From the very beginning of the story, to the end, we see her lack of confidence, insecurity, feeling unimportant and scarred from being ignored.  “Tell me about your childhood.  Tell me about the horrors of Communism.”  Katya faces the reality of unimportance when she herself realizes that this American lover is only asking this question purely out of entertainment, “He didn’t want to know her better.  The man was simply asking for some entertainment--” All she wants is someone who she could share her past with.

One of those ‘entertainment’ stories she half told was of her first sexual encounter.  The young preschooler, Katya, ends up showing a young boy next to her at nap time, their private parts.  The boy automatically says, “Mine’s better” and without a second thought she agrees.  After telling her mom, Katya gets scolded and locks herself into the bathroom.  The thought that a preschooler has to deal with the emotional stress from her mom lashing out at her daughter is frightening.

And finally, Katya’s last story talks about her development of breasts and not to mention her desire to show off her beauty to her best friend Vera.  After her Aunt gives her a bag of clothes, she discovers a beige sweater that makes her feel beautiful.  The thought was short lived because later when she finds herself in a crowded convenience store one of the store owners picks her up and uses her as a way to get people to leave, leaving Katya scarred and no longer letting her feel beautiful.