In this emotionally charged story by Samrat Upadhyay, a divorced woman tries desperately to prevent her schizophrenic adult son from self-harming or harming others. When she discovers that he has bought a gun and possibly joined Maoist rebels, she seeks help from his father. In the process, she befriends his pregnant, emotionally overwrought new wife who is being shunned by her family. As soon as the baby is born, the new wife does a runner and the husband follows, “temporarily” leaving the baby in her care. Themes include motherhood and motherly love, mental illness, loneliness and isolation, insensitivity, anxiety, superstition. More…
All posts by shortsonline
The Alienist
In this satirical novella by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, a brilliant physician relocates to his hometown in Brazil and convinces the council to build the region’s first madhouse. Rebellion stirs when, having incarcerated all the truly insane, the overzealous doctor begins to lock up townspeople who are eccentric or unusually talented. As the number of inmates reaches 80% of the population, the doctor decides upon a new definition of madness. Everyone is released, new townspeople are taken in and treated, until eventually only one “madman” remains. Themes insanity, ambition, scientific fallibility, abuse of power, self-serving politics, revolution and counter-revolution. More…
Marigolds
In Eugenia Collier’s Marigolds the protagonist comes of age (or in her words loses her innocence) when caught in a senseless act of destruction. Angry about her father’s shame over not being able to find work, she lashes out at the garden of a neighbor who is trying to bring beauty and happiness into her life by growing marigolds. Ironically, the neighbor and her disabled son are even more destitute than the protagonist’s family. Themes: childhood memories, poverty, shame, envy, impulsiveness, empathy, guilt and possibly racism (the resentful references to “white folks” and comments about Miss Lottie’s “Indian-like” features). More…
Rules of the Game
The title of this story by Amy Tan refers to both the game of chess and the game of life. A Chinese-American mother’s term for one important rule is the art of invisible strength (self-control). The story deals with a number of themes: poverty, respect (for parents, others and one’s cultural heritage), pride vs. humility, passion and dedication, and mother/daughter relationships. At the end of the story, both fail in exercising the art of invisible strength. The mother’s understandable pride leads to bragging; the daughter’s response is rudeness and running away. Whose wind (willpower) will blow the strongest? More…
How Much Land Does a Man Need?
In this Leo Tolstoy story, a Russian peasant thinks to himself: Our only trouble is that we haven’t enough land. If I had a lot of land, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself! The Devil ‘overhears’ this and puts him to the test. The more land the man gets, the more he thinks he needs. He hears of a place where for almost nothing you can buy all the land you can walk around in a day. In rushing to encircle as much land as possible, he learns the answer to the titular question. Themes: class, exploitation, temptaion, envy, avarice. More…