“Mantis,” a short story in Julia Armfield’s collection Salt Slow, was definitely a suspenseful read. The entire time you’re curious as to what the fate of our narrator will be. You’re aren’t expecting her to actually transform, which is one of the elements of the fantastic in fiction, and certainly not into a mantis. It never flat out says what it is she turned into, but we can make our assumptions based on the title and little descriptions.
Something interesting that struck me was despite her looks, she never had trouble finding friends or even a boy that liked her. Typically, that can be the main issue in these type of short stories, making the transformation seem done out of vengeance. After each set of asterisks, or stars in this case, the setting shifts. This lets us know that it’s not the actual transformation that’s important here, but more so the leading up to it. Unlike “Fatso” and “Beast,” the process is more important here rather than what she becomes and how other characters deal with it. The only time we get to see the narrator fully changed is on the last page or two— and even then we don’t get to see other characters’ reactions. In fact, the only reaction we get from the narrator is that she “opens her mouth for something more in keeping with her genes.”
Her mother as well gives us interesting information. She calls the narrator a “late bloomer” and states that she was a “late bloomer” as well. Yet the narrator has her grandmother’s skin. The narrator mentions her mother having perfect, porcelain-like skin, while her grandmother’s was falling apart like hers. Is it possible her mother had the same skin issue, but instead of turning into a mantis, just had a beautiful layer of skin underneath? Maybe. It’s not really a thematic concern of mine, but I do find that detail interesting.
Overall, the aspect of the narrator not being ashamed by her skin nor her transformation is something quite unique. It played very well into the theme of the story, making it seem as if it almost wasn’t a work of fantasy. Because we linger on her life struggling with her skin, this can be taken more realistically. We can assume this is an actual girl with an actual skin problem, not a mantis waiting to transform. I am left with questions about how this transformation process became genetic, but in the world of short stories, some things are best left to the imagination.