Critical Respone to Woody Allen's Story

Critical Response to Woody Allen’s “The Kugelmass Episode”

By Matt Carroll

           

The first thing Allen does is establish the main character and the world he lives in. He does this effectively and casually. Allen does a good job establishing the world the main character lives in by not pushing out facts. He shows the environment using dialogue and descriptions that are good enough to make your own assumptions about.

            His use of dialogue is superb in this story. It’s short, sweet, to the point, and it manages to push the story forward. In the introduction he introduces a main theme in the story when Kugelmass  says “I need to meet a new woman.” In comparison to the ending where the man simply wants to get rid of the “new woman” this is very funny to me.

            Allen’s transition from the real world to the magical world is somewhat believable. The proposal of the magician seems so ludicrous in the beginning that it seems like he is a scam artist, but he’s possibly the most honest character in the story, especially near the end where he gives Kugelmass  a freebee after the crazy events that happen. I think Allen chose a good story for Kugelmass  to enter because it was a believable world. If he had Kugelmass  enter a magical world, or a world that was too far distant in the past, it might not have worked.

            My favorite parts were the area where Allen created suspense by having the character from the novel stuck in reality and the ending. In the instance where the female character from the novel was stuck in reality this was humorous and it also contradicted the beginning lines where the Kugelmass  wanted a new woman. You almost want Kugelmass  to appreciate the life he has instead of trying to escape it. I think that is the reason why the ending worked so well. I thought the ending was hilarious, but it also gave resolution to the reader. The man was trying to escape his life through fiction, and in the end he does that in Remedial Spanish, but the lesson to appreciate what you have, or to work on what you have instead of escaping, gets across to the reader.

            This was a very good story to read before writing the transformation pieces in class because Daphne may not have magically transformed himself, but his character was able to develop through a short story. Also the use of magic so casually it seemed real was a very effective tool.