"SUBSOIL"

Subsoil by Nicholson Baker, originally appeared on June 27, 1994 in The New Yorker newspaper.Two years later it appeared in the American Gothic Tales anthology created by Joyce Carol Oates, and published by Plume Publishing.

The story subsoil is uniquely told. Unlike any other story that we have read in this class Subsoil has an outsider looking in telling the story.In my opinion, this gave me a better understanding of the story because the narrator told the story the same way i would have told it if i was telling the story. Just to give a brief synopsis of the subsoil, the story was about a man named "Nyle T. Milner, a hard working agricultural historian, is busy researching and working on a book about the early harrow. He is in the process of traveling to the Museum of the Tractor located in Harvey, New York for a fourth time. He asks Bill Fipton for recommendations for accommodations, Bill offers up "The Taits" inn stating that they make an "interesting" soup. He explores the hotel room and comes across a Mr. Potato Head Kit. He opens the box quickly, and is surprised to find a real potato with all the facial features still punctured into it. The mummified potato startled him.Following his encounter with the potato, Nyle made his way down from his room for dinner. He learned that tonight's menu was leek and potato soup, however he was the only one eating it. After some time, he mentioned the Mr. Potato Head Kit he had found earlier, and stated how it had startled him. After dinner, Mrs. Tait led Nyle into the kitchen, revealing to him dozens of potatoes all shapes and sizes. Making sure to mention that they only use "fresh" ones. Nyle leaves the Taits and proceeds to his room. While trying to fall asleep he wondered why Mrs. Tait used the word "fresh".He awoke read to venture back downstairs to the kitchen, though when he got to the door he noticed a sprout coming through the keyhole. He opens the door and noticed a dozen or more potatoes coming toward him. Nyle goes back inside and tries to blockade the door. The potatoes are coming after him. Nyle tries to escape, however the dead Mr. Potato Head's spuds spawn veered toward Nyle's face, causing him to fall. The potatoes begin to inhabit his body planting themselves within. After some time Nyle awoke in a very dark place the box he originally encountered upon his arrival at "The Taits". A child begins pushing the Mr. Potato Head features into Nyle, and puts him back into the box. Later on (many years later) a man opens the box and is frightened by the mummified potato which ultimately begins the new Krebs Cycle."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsoil_(short_story)). There are eight characters from the story they are as follows: Nyle T. Milner, The manager of the Harvey Motel, (not too sure if a name was give but i didn't read one for him), Bill Fipton, The Taits, Raymond Purty, Juliette, Douglas Grieb, and Shelby Hemper Fairchild. In every story so far that we have read there has been a few things that made each one gothic. In this story Baker used childhood memory of Mr. Potato Head (Toy Story lol), and a simple vegetable and turned them into cold hearted killers. This made the readers erase all of the fun and loving thoughts of Mr. Potato head out of their mind, gave them a different view on vegetables at dinner, and made the reader see them as evil. He also used the concept of fear and horror. Subsequent to Nyle seeing the shriveled up Mr. Potato Head he is left with a feeling of revulsion and fear which intensifies onward through the story. This story was my personal favorite becaus eit gave me a better understanding of what was going on and i didn"t have to figure out who was who or what role did the narrator play in the midst of everything.