The Egg

Questions for blog:
1.  What kind of man was the narrator's father before he married?  What changes did he undergo after marriage?
2.  How does the narrator feel about and view chickens?
3.  Why does the narrator claim to have had trouble, even as a child, being happy?  What are we to make of the narrator's supposed gloominess and cautions against optimism?
4.  What role does the father's collection of "grotesques" play in the story?
5.  After abandoning chicken farming and going into the restaurant business, what decision does the father make regarding his personality and behavior?  What is wrong with this decision and what happens as a consequence of it?
6.  What is the meaning of the narrator's statement at the end of the story about "the complete and final triumph of the egg?"

Answers:
1.  He was a cheerful, kind man who didn't know much of power or ambition.  After he married, all he thought of was rising in his position in the world.
2.  The narrator thinks chickens are pointless.  They are a symbol of his gloomy childhood, so he thinks negatively of them.
3.  He claims to have had trouble being happy because he lived on a chicken farm, which was caused by his parents' ambition.  We are probably supposed to think that he doesn't veer towards optimism because he knows that if you aim too high, you might fall short of your expectations.
4.  The "grotesques" are metaphors for how all different people use or treat the lower class.
5.  The father decides that he needs to start entertaining his customers and being more "pleasing."  This decision doesn't suit him because he's not good at entertaining, and it pushes people away from his restaurant.
6.  "The complete and final triumph of the egg" means that the "egg" that had caused his life so much trouble just won the battle in the end.  Basically, the grief and trouble beat him.