Professor Incognito Response

1. Are there any prominent symbols in the story? What are they and how are they used?

From what I could decipher, I feel as if the key to his room or secret laboratory is symbolic of his own self. The fact that he then discusses having to kill his fiance for intruding on his sacred ground could be speaking to his fear of intimacy and deep connection with another individual- basically he is scared of sharing himself fully with anyone as he later states by saying that he is scared that all of him will not be welcomed, especially the negative sides that he bears.

2. What connection did you make to the story? Discuss elements you chose to connect with.

Although this story is pretty ludicrous, I can feel a connection towards the character's reluctance and fear towards sharing every part of himself with another person. This is something that most humans fear although we long to form connections with others, a part of us lives in fear that our true selves will be rejected or judged. Just as the narrator, it can feel like someone is breaking into our secret evil laboratories as they try to discover our intimate details. I think we all fear that once our weaknesses, faults, and disappointments come to light that we will no longer be accepted. We all live in a constant struggle to maintain the facade of what we want the world to see and often cannot come to terms with our own negative aspects so it makes it that much harder to allow someone else to view.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story to another medium? What medium would you choose?

I think that I would choose to adapt this story to a cartoon. It's whimsical nature would produce creative and vibrant images to go along to further help reflect the author's intention of including a strange setting and character to portray a common but sensitive issue of human nature and reluctance towards sharing themselves. It is a common theme that has been portrayed across various mediums already such as music, literature,  and film but the quirky way in which it is reflected in this short story would well suit a colorful animated world. As far as changes, I would probably make sure that the message is more understandable, not in a blunt in-your-face here's the answer type of way, but just not in the same roundabout way the author chose to do since it got a little confusing in portions due to run on sentences and interjections that ruined the fluidity of the message. For me at least.