Question

In "What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?", the last section of the story is a flash forward. Readers must infer what happens in the intervening time between Sergei's conversation with the fish and Yoni's final report on his video. Is this structure effective, or would it have been better to know the details about Sergei's decision? Explain.

Answer 1

When you flash forward and skip to the end result, there are many ways to imagine what could have happened in between. This structure can be either effective or not; but it depends on each individual case. In this instance, it wasn't necessary to know exactly what happened in between about the details of Sergei's decision because the most prominent point of this story was the result of what happened in the beginning. It leaves more to the imagination and truly leaves the reader thinking about Sergei's decision; it doesn't particularly matter how he arrived there. We know he was in a challenging position and no matter what he was going to face challenges leading up to the ending.