The Homecoming (A Puja Story)

The Homecoming (A Puja Story): Short story by BanaphoolSometimes the twist in a story is not immediately evident to readers from other cultures. In this story by Banaphool, an Indian insurance agent returning home from an unsuccessful sales trip encounters four strangers in his train compartment. He does his best to sell them a policy until a fifth with a “trunked head” emerges from a top bunk. He then realizes his fellow passengers are important Hindu gods traveling to the upcoming Durga Puja festival. Despite this, he is still able to make a sale. Themes include resilience, embarrassment, persistence, success.

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The Gold of Tomás Vargas

The Gold of Tomás Vargas: Short story by Isabel AllendeIsabel Allende’s Tomás Vargas is a lecherous, wife-beating, boastful drunkard. At a time when paper money has lost its value, he is wealthy thanks to gold he buried in better times. He enjoys a luxurious, self-indulgent “macho” lifestyle as his wife and children live in poverty. To add to his family’s misery, he brings his pregnant mistress home to live with them. In addition to Vargas’s wife, the “heroes” of the story are the shop-keeper (Riad) and school-teacher (Inés), who take pity on and try to help the women. Themes include greed, cruelty, morality, dignity, compassion, responsibility, and karma.

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Roselily

Roselily: Short story by Alice WalkerIn this story by Alice Walker, a woman daydreams through her wedding ceremony about how her life is about to change. She is not sure if she is in love with the man, and is marrying him primarily for the sake of her young children from previous relationships. Although both are African-American, their future faces significant challenges. She is from the rural South, he is from Chicago; she is Christian, he is Muslim. She reconciles herself to a life of ropes, chains and handcuffs away from family and friends. Themes include alienation, loneliness, motherhood, compatibility, religion, change and hope.

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The Flying Machine

The Flying Machine: Short story by Ray BradburyIn this story by Ray Bradbury, a Chinese Emperor learns that one of his subjects has invented a “flying machine”. Thinking that the invention could be used against him if the “technology” fell into the wrong hands, he has the man executed, the kite destroyed, and the whole episode hushed up. Written shortly after the end of World War II, by which time the Soviets had already replicated America’s atomic bomb, the story could be considered a parable warning of the risk of developing weapons of mass destruction. Themes include the potential danger of technology, fear of progress, shortsightedness, selfishness/control.

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Leaving the Yellow House

Leaving the Yellow House: Short story by Saul BellowIn this depressing but captivating story by Saul Bellow, a seventy-two-year-old woman reviews her life of lost opportunities after an accident threatens her ability to live independently in her off-the-grid Yellow House. A heavy drinker, she is portrayed as irresponsible, selfish, brash and demanding. With no close relatives and the six other eccentric white people in her isolated desert community tolerating rather than befriending her, she has no one to turn to and, more importantly, nobody “good enough” to bequeath her only treasure (the house) to. Themes include poverty, aging and death, identity, self-deception, alienation and isolation, disconnection, alcohol abuse.

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Fish Cheeks

Fish Cheeks: Short story by Amy TanThe thesis for this narrative essay by Amy Tan is expressed in the form of a prayer: For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose. The protagonist, a fourteen–year-old girl, is uncomfortable with her Chinese looks and what others might think of her family’s Chinese ways. She is especially concerned because her would-be boyfriend Robert and his church minister father have been invited for Christmas dinner. After watching on in embarrassment as they sit through the meal of traditional Chinese delicacies, she receives some wise life advice from her mother.

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Under the Banyan Tree

Under the Banyan Tree: Short story by R. K. NarayanThis story by R. K. Narayan starts by contrasting the village of Somal’s poor utilities and sanitation practices with the almost idyllic existence of its inhabitants. Set before the coming of electronic media, the only regular source of entertainment is Nambi, the village storyteller. As de-facto village priest, Nambi is also the focal point of its culture and traditions. Sadly, he is getting old. He forgets prepared stories, and has difficulty coming up with new material. Fortunately, he has the good sense to make his ‘greatest’ story his last. Themes include storytelling, community, aging, knowing when to stop, spirituality..

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Halfway to the Moon

Halfway to the Moon: Short story by Vasily AksyonovIn this story by Vasily Aksyonov (Aksenov), a hard-drinking Russian logging-truck driver is infatuated with a stylish stewardess he meets on a flight to Moscow. He becomes so obsessed with finding her again that he spends his entire winter vacation traveling to and fro on the same flight. Disillusioned over the fruitless search, he has a moral awakening and develops feelings of guilt over a woman he had recently misled. When he does see the stewardess again, he decides to walk away and treasure the memory. Themes include machismo, unrequited love, disillusionment, moral conscience, Western influence on Russian culture.

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