“Decoration of an airplane” is a short essay that metaphorically compares the back of a thin girl being massaged to the belly of an airplane and its complexion. It starts off a bit confusing, but the second time you read it the whole story unfolds right in front of your eyes.
Here is the link to "Decoration of an Airplane"
The first time I read the story, I was honestly really confused by the end of it. It’s like a game but modernized! so if you’re in for a challenge, I’d strongly suggest the story as it made me feel like a smarty-pants by the end of. As a postmodern reader, I find it in a way magical but also like a puzzle. Read this part of the story that really had the wheels on my mind bus rolling!
The main portion of this essay includes a person who is a masseuse, giving a back massage to a very thin girl. The masseuse describes the back of this girl as a belly of the airplane. she also talks about the layers of her back and how they are so deep that nothing can unclog them and that her skin is almost like metal. The author also includes flashbacks from the masseuse’s past comparing her life to the little girls life that she is massaging.
I found very interesting the use of black humor in this essay as towards the end, it started talking about a plane crash and the traumatic events that occurred during it such as hitting your head due to the loss of gravity or the seatbelt squeezing you! OUCH! I thought that this could be triggering for people with fears of flying or people who know people who crashed in a plane. and the last postmodernist detail in this essay would have to be the magic that happens from the girl being super oily and sticky to her being completely dry by the end of the plane crash personally, I believe that that doesn’t happen in real life, and that the kind of bended the truth, a little bit to incorporate that magical realism into this essay. I really wanna know y’all’s thoughts on this in the comments below.
This essay really took me by surprise and was not at all what I thought it would be a 10 out of 10 read!
Check out this Most watched Air Disasters Of 2023 crash video to parody this crazy essay lol!