Sea Oak is a critically acclaimed short story written by the famous American writer George Saunders. He is famous for his short stories.
Plot Summary
The story is a narration and the narrator is a stripper who lives in Sea Oak. He lives in a rented apartment with his aunt, his sister, cousins and their children. His aunt's name is (Aunt) Bernie who is sixty years old. She is a healthy lady and she was never married and never had children. She worked very hard in her life. But she never feels bad about her life and is happy that she has a house to live in.
One day, the narrator arrives from work and finds that his nephew's walker was hit by a bullet. He feels very tensed but his aunt tells him that at least they have a house. She also tells that at least none of the bullets hit anybody in the house. But, surprisingly, Aunt Bernie dies after two days and the reason for her death is she was scared when an intruder broke into the house. They do the funeral to her.
They receive a phone call saying that Aunt Bernie's dead body has disappeared from the graveyard. When the narrator returns home the next day from work, he finds Aunt Bernie sitting in a chair in the living room. She tells him to sit down. She then tells him that he would show his privates to ladies and get money from them. She tells him that she could try and get five ladies for him and if each pays twenty dollars, he could make hundred dollars a day. She also tells him that she would make a thumbprint on the forehead of the woman if she pays to see his privates.
She tells his sister to find a new job and also tells his cousin to earn money from baby sitting. She wants the family to move to a new apartment after they start earning money and thinks that after that, the narrator could study pre law.
The narrator goes to work and sees a old woman (one from his customers) with a thumbprint over her forehead. But when he sees that the old lady's friend is his ex-girlfriend, he escapes from that place. When he returns home he finds Aunt Bernie very furious. She is in a very bad position with her both arms on her lap and her head in her arm. She asks him to show his privates and dies.
The narrator packs her body parts in a bag and buries the bag in the grave once again. When he goes to work the next day, he doesn't find any woman with a thumbprint over her forehead. His colleague tells him how to know if a customer wants to see more. He tells the narrator to ask the customer whether she wants to see anything more. Though most of them says no, some people say yes and he earns money. They shift to a new apartment. At times, his aunt comes in his dreams and tells him that some people got everything but she didn't get anything. Whenever she says that, the narrator says why did it happen but he never knew the answer for that.
Though this short story is well acclaimed by critics and liked by readers, I somehow didn't get so impressed with this story. The story is a bit confusing in parts and it was not clear. Aunt Bernie returning again and dying again is not so convincing. They should have given a convincing reason for the same.
