Estelle, during the course of these conversations, makes observations about the women, subtly revealing her method of focus and her sense of the important, telling less about the characters of the women and more about Estelle herself. These constant, critical, and often silly observations are the very thing that clearly draws the character of this narrator.

But it is the clear similarities between Estelle and the women, shown vividly during this collective speculation on the “rape fantasy” topic, which realizes Estelle’s character to the audience. Of all the women at the table, only Estelle tosses out obnoxious humor, and it is the reaction to this obnoxiousness that unifies the group and identifies Estelle: they’re thinking of her the same way she’s thinking of them, but with better reason to do so. Cred că memento mori e, de fapt, fața cealaltă a iubirii care nu moare, stă mereu într-un colț al creierului protagonistei, deși povestea de dragoste s-a încheiat de mult timp, deși nimic nu mai e cum a fost, iar ei doi sunt acum alți oameni, cu familii si job (se cunoscuseră în studenție). Și...daca își amintește des că va muri, ea își aduce imediat în paralel și imaginea lui, pentru că el este tinerețea ei și viața aceea plină, romantică, de neegalat cu viața de acum.The basis of the story is rape. Rape, as defined in the Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, is an act of power and dominance; although 15% to40% of American women are victims of rape or attempted rape, there is also the chance that a man is assaulted also. It is said that women are more than likely going to get raped by someone they know. More than half of the nation’s rape assaults have been placed in the victim’s home. Many rape assaults are continued or completed because the victim didn’t use verbal or physical force as resistance. For more than 3 decades and now till this day, feminist organizations have been fighting successfully to change the publics’ attitude toward rape as well as how society treats rape victims.

The significance of Estelle's need to explain her position to the listener, despite her fears, she sees the risk being worth it as opposed to the alternative of isolation form human interaction, which not only unveils Estelle's vulnerability but in turn gives Estelle credibility ("I Just Don't Understand It." Gale). The themes of this story are the quotes that are displayed through the paper and the definition of rape, why it’s taking lightly and how is the issue getting solved. There are two religious references made by Estelle, and both mention the Virgin Mary. This possibly expresses two things about Estelle’s personality and an overall idea found in the story. First, and most obvious, is just the fact that she has had a religious upbringing. Second is the paradoxical situation that one finds in the ‘virgin birth’ and in the ‘satisfying rape. ’ These references introduce into the story the surreal nature of rape fantasies as presented by the magazines and TV that Estelle tells of in the beginning of the story.

Preview Book

Nos amamos, eso es cierto signifique lo que signifique, pero no nos amamos bien: para algunos es talento, para otros adicción. Written in 1977, "Rape Fantasies" appears to be a recap of a conversation among several women during their lunch hour, a few of them playing bridge, one--Chrissy the receptionist--reading aloud from a tabloid. When Chrissy asks the question, "How about it, girls, do you have rape fantasies?" the story unfolds with each woman’s response, all retold from the perspective of Estelle, who’s doing her best to deflect the entire conversation by concentrating on her bidding. De niña, siempre se identificaba con la novia engañada o la hermana fea; siempre que el cuento empezaba “Érase una vez una doncella tan bonita como bondadosa”, tenía la certeza de que no se trataba de ella. Why is “The Man From Mars” mysterious? First, the man appeals to Christine to share her name by way of writing. Typically, people exchange their names verbally. Christine obliges in view of the possibility that the man is from a culture that is dissimilar to hers whereby sharing names through writing may be tolerable. Second, the man is resolute on going home with her on the first day that they pump into each other. His request is bizarre seeing that they have not been accustomed to each other for long. Third, the man calls Christine’s house, even though Christine did not give her telephone number. Details are not included on how he got the number though. Christine speculates, “most likely he went through the phone book, calling all the numbers with her last name until he hit on the right one.” If Christine’s theory is perfect, then the man must have been neurotic about being in Christine’s life. What is more, the man invites himself to Christine’s home for tea. On the occasions when Christine gives her the opportunity to speak out what he wants from her, the man does not express himself.