Like the previous weeks, the way this short story is written lends a lot to the overall "horror/suspense" feeling it gives. We start off with our main characters and a break up scene. The man is ending the relationship, cutting the girl off and telling her to leave. Many people can relate to this scenario, whether experiencing it themselves or through another person. This is the first thing that engages a reader because they can relate to this situation on a personal level.
Now that we have the reader engaged and into thinking this will turn out like most break ups do (arguments, phone calls, cold shoulders etc) the author gives us gruesome surprise. The man discovers the woman in his backyard, "crucified" by the rusty fence, seemingly inflicted on herself. I would hope no one could relate to this experience! As I was reading The Neglected Garden, I was keeping in mind the kind of genre this short story would be classified under. From the beginning, it was hard to ground it into any genre- perhaps non fiction? Immediately, the little diagram in my head pinned "horror" as I arrived at this gruesome scene.
Then things began to change. While the man was horrified by the woman tied up in his backyard, he wasn't exactly going through the steps I would take in the situation. I'd call the police and get an ambulance over immediately- but our character hesitates on the phone with police and hangs up. He consults his friends, but eventually shuts himself into his house, avoiding neighbor and friends all together. He mocks the woman and shouts at her, but then all together tries to ignore her.
That's when the woman starts to become a part of his garden, grass grows and flowers sprout from her body- yet she is still "alive." This is a terrifying image. As the woman's body degrades and decomposes into nature, we see our man's mentality doing the same.
Personally, I didn't really see this story as "science fiction" because I interpreted the woman in the backyard as being a manifestation of his guilt. I feel like the woman haunting him from his garden and his constant struggle to ignore/destroy her image is how his subconcious is trying to handle the break up. I never been in an experience where I had to break up with someone, but I did have a god awful fight with a friend that led to absolutely no communication for years. Mentally, I would say my mind was probably with this guys. Your image of them never quite leaves your mind, its haunting- especially if your last encounter was emotionally devastating (the man having to force her to leave). The mental anguish the man had to go through was overbearing, and towards the end it seems as if he lost the fight. He was consumed by the guilt of his actions.
Though as I said, that's my interpretation. Perhaps the woman really did just become a part of the earth, destined to destroy the guy- it is a story, anything can happen.
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