This guy had his lung raped by a fir tree. Interesting. Watch out for nature, guys.

Apologies for the late response

I really have no idea what to make of this story. I find it bizarre yet intriguing. I really want to know what others are thinking about this story (and I'm going to read the other posts after this), because I think it is so open to interpretation. If I had to throw something out there (which I do), I would say that this was some Romantic fairy tale gone terribly wrong. Other Romantic tales we have read have definitely used nature, but this one takes it a step further by actually mating a rose with a woman, and creating a daughter/rose child. The rose/woman description has been made before in many stories I have read, but it has never been as literal as it is in this story. I also thought it was interesting that the story takes a turn in tone at the end. It goes from sort of a mystical tale to a comedic, slightly sarcastic joke. This change, when the narrator talks in jest about Dr. Rosenberger perhaps conducting "bestial experiments" on the girl, is a strange way to end the story, as it sort of leaves the reader very confused as to what the moral of the story (if any) may be. I am open to all other interpretations, and look forward to hearing some of them in class tomorrow.

By any other word would smell as sweet

It starts out very fairy-tale like, then ends like an article in a science journal.  So, then, what is it?  It is possibly a play on my biggest fear I've had since I reached puberty, which is getting pregnant by some supernatural force.  The rose, a passionate flower, is a symbol of blossoming virginity and erotic invitation; why else are they sprinkled in bedrooms or placed as a bush...haha, very funny...on the doctor's and his wife's wedding bed?  I feel there is no moral or message in the story, except maybe to uphold the stigma of the bastard child, but in a kinder light.  The rosebush daughter maintains the stigma of being the offspring of something that came and went; the reason she dies is because she IS a bastard child and cannot run away from who she really is.

Deflowered by a Flower

My first response to The Vegetational Fatherhood was a resounding "wtf." It was like my eyes had been raped by this crazy tale of plant/human love. This story firstly made me think of every single "Extra Special Episode" of any show I watched between ages 9 - 13. Or those Health Class videos in which the girl goes to the frat party, and wakes up next to some guy she doesn't remember meeting. Only in this case a girl was drugged by the plant (hypnotized really). But the reaction was about the same. Denial, then the surprise pregnancy. She never knows who the father is, even when her daughter draws the picture of him and labels it "daddy." Like in the health class movies, when the girl just does not ever believe so'and'so would do that to her. Even to the bitter end, she does not want the professor to find out about his new wife's parentage, which is what causes the girl's doom. Definitely the craziest story I have ever read.

(also, on a different note, I find it interesting that the author just goes ahead and says the woman has a sex dream, even giving a small bit of detail saying how she gave herself over wholly to him... I mean, this was written in the beginning of the 1900's, not like, 1997... not one for the kiddies).

the human that was raped by the rose

The first thought that came to mind after I finished the story was that it seemed like a satire on the social injustices and implications that women faced when they have a child out of wedlock during that time period. And this story fits in really well with the Romantic literary fairytale that we have been discussing in class, where nature isn’t just a scientific element but rather it has a higher power- even like on a higher spiritual level. In the story, the rose was personified, having human abilities and even emotions to “yearn” for the young woman. The rose raped the woman and then she found herself pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful, silent child. The silent child parallels the other young, beautiful, and silent maidens we read about in the other fairytales, like Snow White. In the end, the young girl is thrown off the balcony and falls to her death and her mother and Dr. Rosenberger are sent to an asylum. The message that this dark ending seems to be saying that nature and humans should never be mixed in a sexual way- leads to a very bad and morbid ending for all of those involved.

The Vegetational Fatherhood

It’s interesting how even before the story begins, the narrator makes the reader start to question whether plants really do have a “will of their own or their own consciousness.” Then the tale goes on to show how a rose raped a woman sleeping nearby and she then had a daughter. It’s almost a religious tale. The woman is like the Virgin Mary; the rose like God; and the daughter like Jesus. Later in the tale, the daughter’s new husband even comments on how his wife must be a very pious woman as she prays by herself each night.

Something that I found strange was how after Dr. Floris Rosenberger discovers that his wife turns into a rosebush each night; he is not surprised or angry. Once she transforms back into herself and dies from being thrown off the balcony, he doesn’t seem to have much of a reaction. He rushes to her mother to make sure she will confirm his story, but other than that there are no signs of sadness or guilt.

Also, the mother and Dr. Rosenberger are taken to an asylum, which suggests that this tale takes place in a world where magic is possible, but not believed or widely known. The tale ends questioning if they were telling the truth or not. This is similar to “Ekbert the Blond,” in that the reader does not know for certain whether what occurred in the tale actually happened or if the characters in the tale were insane.

Assignment: 7 April 2009

Please write an interpretation of/response to “The Vegetational Fatherhood.” Don't forget to post comments by Wednesday.