“Egg Salad Sandwiches” by Caroline O. definitely caught my attention. The title itself made me wonder why it was in the fiction section rather than the health category of the magazine. As I continued reading, I understood the concept behind the title and the story. Millions of people around the world suffer from eating disorders, men and women alike. It’s a silent condition, that dominates the victim’s life, clutching their host like a parasite. In this fiction work, Caroline describes the everyday conflicts Mattie deals with due to society’s overwhelming obsession with weight and appearance. Even the government condones this behavior! They recommend families what to eat on a daily broadcast. It is a beautifully written story, especially since it deals with such a controversial topic.
Mattie and her family are expected to follow government rules on nutrition. They all reject the regulations while Cecilia strictly follows. Eventually she died of a heart attack, her body too weak to sustain the torment any longer. It brings the reader into a fictional situation that holds a brutally honest truth behind it. Eating disorders kill people and in this story some people allow themselves to be killed and confined. Others like Mattie rejects and learns to live. Just as the government rules lost it’s restraint on citizens, the millions of people suffering from an eating disorder will overcome the iron grips and enjoy their own egg salad sandwich.