Popular Mechanics

On this week's syllabus I noticed that with this story we were supposed to focus on structure. In the actual way the text is organized, I noticed that each line alternated between the man and woman speaking. In general, I found this to parallel essentially the tug-o-war over the baby. It is as if their words are also playing tug-o-war, going back and forth. Just like the goal is to win the baby, the point of the argument is to have the last word in the conversation.
Also when I read this, I thought of King Solomon, and the two women who both claimed a child, and both refused to admit who the real mother was. In order for the truth to be revealed, Solomon threatened to cut the baby in half, and give each "mom" a piece of the child. In the end, however, both women admitted the truth because they loved the baby. This story is quite the opposite however. In Popular Mechanics, both parents are out for their own selfish wants, instead of showing love towards their child.