The Woman

The narrator and main character of the narrative is an unnamed married woman. She lives in a house with her husband, an unspecified number of children, and the family cat. She is a homemaker and therefore spends much of her time engaged in the daily chores necessary for the upkeep of the household and the raising of the children. However, she soon becomes fascinated by the dead bugs that often appear on the house’s downstairs carpet. After initial disgust, she begins to view the bugs as beautiful in terms of their anatomy and physiology. She begins to collect and study the dead bugs.

The woman’s interest in insects and similar creatures rapidly expands, and after initial reluctance, she begins to enthusiastically spend her free time observing and learning about insects, arachnids, worms, et cetera. She is attracted to the beauty contained within the creatures’ forms...