Really Confusing yet Really Interesting-- "The Fat Man's Race"

I read a very interesting short story last night so I decided I would like to write a blog on it.

"The Fat Man's Race" by Louise Erdrich
New Yorker- November 3, 2008

I originally picked this short story because the title intrigued me. A fat man's race? What is that suppose to mean? As I began reading, I thought I had figured out the whole story. Here was a grandma who was telling the story of how she wanted to marry one man but ended up having to marry another because of a series of unfortunate events. The first man believed that this woman was trying to steal his money and was cheating on him. The woman admits that she "plays" with the Devil, what ever that is suppose to mean. She notes that she has a good angel and a devil that try to influence her.

With this background information, I came to a conclusion that the grandma was teaching her grandchildren a story about how to not fall in to temptation and how one must not be too influenced by the negative/evil forces in life. I could not have been more wrong. This seemingly innocent story almost turns graphic, profane, and odd as the grandma retells her stories through her dream. It is unclear as to whether the unusual and scary events actually happened or if they were merely in her dreams. The man she claimed she cheated with was in her dream and wore everything blue; however, she claims that she saw this man in the fat man's race. Wait, was the fat man's race even true? The plot becomes more twisted as the grandma had wanted to kill the blue man so that she could be with the other man; in the end, the blue man and the other man were dead at this fat man's race. So of course, I am confused. However, the ending is very interesting. The grandma notes that she ended up marrying some perfect man who was not blue, not wild, raised his children well, and loved pets.

I guess I will never really understand this story; however, I do think the grandma's basic message of human imperfections, the crazy human imagination, and marital practicality are all part of our world today. This lady's imagination and her inability to be able to control her emotions and wild ideas are parts of human nature that each person has- No one is perfect, controlled, and sane all of the time... there always comes a time when one's emotions are "let loose." Likewise, despite all of this craziness that went on with the blue man and the almost-husband, the grandma married a seemingly boring man with not that much excitement. I think she realized that maybe that was a more practical choice for her desire to become a mother, etc.

I feel like I am missing something with this story, but nonetheless it was an interesting one to read and to ponder!