Was that the beginning? Was it the first sign of a disturbance that had been growing secretly?
The fantastic in this story is surprisingly normal. Thinking about the meaning of words makes them become distorted. They end up meaning more when you think about them because their definitions take on the word itself. The fantastic becomes weird when the main character starts to ruin his relationships in order to prevent the discomfort that comes from the thought of words. The feeling of discomfort that comes from thinking about words too much is a fleeting feeling for us and in the beginning of the story it is fleeting for the main character too, but he latches onto that discomfort and allows it to engulf him. Millhauser causes an interesting reaction from the story. When the main character starts to obsess over the words we start to question their meanings and how our response to those words will affect their meaning. Its a smart choice by Millhauser because it makes the fantastic jump off the pages.