Response 3

Coover has a way of turning those fairy-tales we all know into something we could never imagine. In The Magic Poker, Coover takes the idea of kissing a frog prince and turns into a dirty poker. Two sisters come to an island only to find it constantly changing with the flick of a magic poker. The story is told from constantly changing perspectives which can be confusing at times. Is he trying to symbolize the constant change of tales through time? Or was it simply a choice of style?

The magic poker seems to reveal the overlooked rather than actually be "magical." At one point, Karen is messing around with the fancy man on the island and he suddenly turns into the beast known as the caretaker's son. It may seem like they are two different people throughout the story but perhaps it's only an illusion. An illusion that is only uncovered once the magic poker is brought about by ripping off the mask of importance that covers the animals we all are. The constant references to taking off the gold pants worn by the sister may symbolize the constant obsession humans have with sex for unproductive reasons. Even the poker is described like a man's penis, "She kisses the handle, the shaft, the tip."
We are led to believe the sisters grew up on this island by random flashbacks. At one point a grandmother and children come into the story. The children are playing on the green piano that is now dismembered and broken which means it must have been a flashback if it was still in working condition.

Robert Coover turns the already grim story of Hansel and Gretel even more disturbing in The Gingerbread House. Doves are constantly reoccurring in this short story. Doves typically symbolize peace; is this a symbol to show something the children will no longer have? It also seems like the Bad Witch may forewarn the children before they reach her house. She holds out a red, pulsing dove heart, which sounds much like her own door to her house of tricks.