The central theme of this early Gabriel Garcia Márquez story is perception of others. ‘Queen’, the six o’clock regular in José’s restaurant, is a prostitute. Queen’s customers see her as a sex object, to be used and sometimes abused. The police see her as an alcoholic miscreant who cannot be trusted. José, who professes platonic love for Queen, sees the vulnerable human being within. Queen, who claims to be disgusted by all men, sees the caring, kind-hearted José only as someone to be taken advantage of. Other themes: habit, murder, naïveté vs. worldliness, misunderstanding, reputation. More…
The End of the Party
Although the 9-year-old twins in this Graham Greene story look the same, they have very different psychological dispositions. The first-born (Peter) is self-confident and has a special connection with his brother. The younger (Francis) has an anxiety disorder that results in unreasoning fear, particularly of the dark. Peter feels what Francis feels, and is fiercely protective of him. Despite their best efforts to avoid it, the two attend a birthday party that will include a game of hide-and-seek in the dark. During the game, a thoughtless act by Peter has tragic results. Themes: innocence, brotherhood, connection, fear, adult insensitivity, death. More…
End of the Game
This Julio Cortázar story involves two “games”. One is the daily Statues role-play three adolescent girls perform to entertain passengers on a passing train. The second is also a game of pretend… ignoring the effect a debilitating disability will have on one of their lives. For the disabled girl (Letitia), Statues is the only physical activity in which she can match the others. They in turn are resentful of Letitia’s special treatment at home. When a boy on the train takes a special interest in Letitia, both games end. Themes: fantasy vs. reality, envy, guilt, confronting disability, coming of age. More…
The Willows
This story from Algernon Blackwood about a canoe trip gone wrong is considered one of the greatest supernatural thrillers of all time. A feature is Blackwood’s ability to build and sustain terror through atmosphere alone. The canoeists camp on a small island among the idyllic, willow-lined channels of the swollen Danube delta. Their campsite sits on the boundary between the known world and another. A malevolent presence has become aware of their existence, and stalks the creeping willows looking for a human sacrifice. Themes include: the beauty and menace of nature, camaraderie, rationality vs. fear, courage, sacrifice, the supernatural. More…
The Star
In Arthur C. Clarke’s The Star, a manned spaceship travels to the edge of the galaxy to explore a nebula (cloud of interstellar gas) surrounding a collapsed star. Within the nebula is a burnt out planet that miraculously survived the explosion. On the planet is a huge stone marker left by a highly advanced civilization that did not survive. Under the marker, buried deep inside the planet, is a vault containing the civilization’s secrets. Among these is a disturbing discovery that challenges our traditional concepts of God. Themes: religious faith, science vs. religion, humankind as the center of the universe. More…