The narrative of this story gets set in motion when the narrator is offered a job position as a “surrogate vice president” of a company called Value Enterprise Association, run by Tao Ling and Gigi, the operations manager. The job position is one that allows the narrator to be the face of the company, regardless of any knowledge about what the company actually does in the first place. I found it interesting that the type of company Tao Ling ran was never explicitly mentioned throughout the entire narrative, and all the readers were given to go on was that the company needed someone to be the spokesperson in order to convince American businessmen that they should enter contracts with this company. This job opportunity given to the narrator gives her reason to tell this story, especially in comparison to the job she previously had, taking reservation calls for Marriott hotels. The significant upgrade in her salary and improvement of her living situation were cause for her to believe that she had an important story to tell. I do not think that the narrator necessarily has an audience in mind when telling this story, but I do think she could be writing down or recording her memories of this job in a journal or diary of some kind. This is because she never addresses an audience directly.
The narrator’s perspective on the events that take place in this story are such that she is looking back in the past to tell the story of how she ended up in Vacaville with the magician her work friend Robbie had recommended to her. We discover what perspective she is writing this series of events from at the very end of the story, when she states, “So I moved here to Vacaville to be with him. It is good to have someone to turn to late at night, when the voices in my head are loud and there are no drugs to dull them” (pg 261). The narrator believes that this story is about her, and particularly her new job, her medical condition, and how she came to meet the magician. I think that this story is more about the standard of beauty the narrator thinks she has to live up to, and how outward appearances can be very different than how the narrator feels about herself and the medical condition she has to deal with every day. I would think that the narrator is mistaken as to the purpose of this story, because although it is important to document her experiences, this story serves as more of a representation of the standards of beauty that everyone feels pressure to live up to, and what that can do to an individual emotionally, psychologically, and otherwise. I thought it was interesting that the narrator decided to go live with the magician instead of visiting a licensed doctor for her medical condition, especially if she had as much money as she said she was making from her job with Tao Ling. When her treatments do not seem to make a difference, it makes sense that she would decide to turn to alternative medicine instead. I think the narrator misunderstands that physical perfection is not the standard one should live their lives according to, and that everyone has their flaws whether they show them outwardly or not. I also think that telling this story is a way for the narrator to get her innermost thoughts and insecurities out in the open. Overall, this story provides a very interesting insight into how people can allow their imperfections to change the course of their lives, and the effects that this can have on their mental health.