Response to Adam Smith's "Animals"

        I really enjoyed this story which seemed to mainly focus on the relationship between a "bad boy," the protagonist, and a "good girl," Jenny. The story highlighted the insights of an unexpected relationship between two opposites through the eyes of the narrator who happens to be the "bad boy." However cliche this storyline seems, I think Adam did a good job straying away from the overused scene where the good girl falls for the bad boy, two different worlds collide, and opposites attract. This storyline even goes back to Shakespeare who capured this in his famous story of Romeo and Juliet. Nonetheless, I found it very interesting to see the spiraling thoughts of the narrator and his constant struggle with who he wants to be and who he is. The story also hits on a bit of identity search for the protagonist, which is influenced by his relationship with Jenny. The identity crisis within the narrator adds to the conflict nicely. The narrator seems to go through several ups and downs in who he is and who he wants to be. He wants to be this "bad boy" because he knows Jenny likes it, but then again he wants to change for her as well. He feels terrible when he has influenced Jenny in the end.
       Not only did the narrator change throughout the story, but so did Jenny. Both characters seemed to swap roles by the end. I liked how the characters did not clichely end with the narrator changing himself simply for her. I thought Adam did a really good job exceeding my expectations as far as how the story would end up.