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Genre Study on Short Stories

One story that stands out from Matthews and Poe’s interpretations of short stories is “First Person Shooter”. It does comply with his condition that a short story “shows one action, in one place, in one day.” The story revolves around the interaction between two coworkers in a zombie, with the store serving as the “one place”, and the overnight shift as the “one day”. This is the furthest this story goes with the definition, as it subverts every other expectation of a short story as established by Matthews. He qualifies a short story as something which “deals with a single character, a single event, a single emotion.” At first glance this description seems to apply, since the main focus of the story is the appearance of the zombie and the two coworkers’ reactions. However, Yu somehow uses this event to complicate the story and the emotions involved.

Initially the appearance of the zombie incites fear, but when we see the character nonchalantly advise the zombie on makeup choice, it’s a bit humorous. Then when the zombie begins to presumably prepare for a date and look at herself in the mirror, we feel some empathy for the zombie as it is humanized. The author also brings in another side plot which is completely unrelated to the zombie, through the romantic relationship between the two coworkers. This jumble of emotions we feel throughout the story is completely contrary to the “essential unity of impression” that Matthews claims a short story should have. Maybe Yu purposefully intended for the story to be this way to challenge the standard expectations of a short story.

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