You're Ugly, Too - Theme

"Later they would worry together, and he would sink a cheek to her belly and ask whether she was late, was she late, was she pregnant, they took to quarreling and drifted apart." - Lorrie Moore

I personally think Zoe is a sarcastically funny character. Although sometimes she does cross a line. I think she does this because of her constant comparison to her sister and a general lack of self esteem. To me, the theme of this story is: People's insecurities cause them to self-sabotage their relationships. There are multiple times in the story when Zoe is happy and seemingly confident around people, but then she says something offensive. She says "I'm just kidding" a lot; however, she's never really kidding. When Zoe isn't being unintentionally rude to people, she's cracking jokes. This I understand, because I think we all do it every once and a while. When things get awkward, uncomfortable, or just boring, we tend to say anything to lighten the mood. That's how Zoe starts out. Then, she becomes more and more offensive as the story goes on. I think she grows more self conscious as she grows older, which causes her to become hostile. It's a shame, because she was really funny for a majority of the story.

Zoe kind of reminds me of Kristen Wiig's character in Bridesmaids. She is in such a bad mood after being treated awfully from everyone in her life, so she takes it out on everyone else around her. If you've seen the movie, this picture and quote make total sense.

"Oh, I feel bad for your parents." 

"I feel bad for your face."