Overall Struggle: Characterrization

I was under the impression that short stories would make it easier for me to understand the characters. I was sadly mistaken. I learned more about what the charaters did, but I feel just as in the dark about who they are. These might as well be poems still. I didn't know if Edie's female boss was depressed or just a mad person, or if Mr. Das was ignorant or missing brain cells. Maybe the diction in short stories is meant to help just as the diction in poems acts as an aid. What I've learned in this unit is that short stories may just be very long and only a little more straight forward versions of poems. I understand the events now, atleast. I just like getting to know characters so I can relate to characters. Because I couldn't do that, I feel like I missed something in all three stories. Sorry I cannot understand what would drive a woman to sleep with a decomposing body. Maybe that professor was right. Maybe relating yourself with a character is a bad technique for that very reason.