The Wives of the Dead

The Wives of the Dead: Short story by Nathaniel HawthorneThis early story from Nathaniel Hawthorne seems to have the same effect on most who read it. We think we know what happened to the two recently married and even more recently widowed young women, but are not 100% sure. Their husbands were brothers, and the four shared a small house. After mourners leave, the women retire to their bedrooms. At different times during the night, each wakes to a messenger with news that their husband has survived. Was either of the messages real? Themes include loss, grief and mourning, dreams vs. reality, and consideration for others.

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The Argentine Ant

The Argentine Ant: Short story by Italo CalvinoThis story from Italo Calvino starts off aslike a horror story. A young couple with a baby move to a peaceful seaside village looking for work, only to discover that the whole place is crawling with ants. After they find the baby covered in ants and their food destroyed, Calvino takes a playful turn. He goes on to describe the sometimes farcical ways villagers try to exterminate and/or pretend they are not affected by the invaders, and the couple’s embarrassing confrontation with the reportedly self-serving government “Ant Man”. Themes: co-existing with nature, powerlessness, futility, tolerance/accepting the inevitable, mob hysteria.

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Zlateh the Goat

Zlateh the Goat: Short story by Isaac Bashevis SingerIt is easy to see why this story from Isaac Singer is said to be derived from Jewish folklore. Zlateh, an anthropomorphic goat, is about to meet the fate of many farm animals. No longer producing enough milk to justify her keep, she faces a final trip to the town butcher. Fortunately, a freak snowstorm interrupts the journey and gives her a chance to redeem herself. Themes: (general) love and loyalty, obedience, trust, resourcefulness, inter-dependence, survival; (religious) sacrifice, faith, acceptance: We must accept all that God gives us—heat, cold, hunger, satisfaction, light, and darkness.

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A Clean Well-Lighted Place

A Clean Well-lighted Place: Short story by Ernest HemingwayThis story by Ernest Hemingway takes place in a cafe. Two waiters (one young, the other middle-aged) talk about an old man sitting alone at one of the tables. A line from each waiter exemplifies three major themes. From the young waiter: I wouldn’t want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing. (attitudes towards the aged). From the older waiter: It [life] was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. (emptiness and despair). Other themes include aging and death, gender stereotyping, and the fact that money doesn’t buy happiness.

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Inside Out

Inside Out: Short story by Francisco JiménezThis is a chapter from the The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, a collection of autobiographical short stories by Francisco Jiménez. Here. Jiménez describes his first year at school. Although slightly nervous because of his older brother’s stories about his first grade experience, he is excited to learn. However, his academic progress and relationships with classmates are held back by a complete lack of English. Frustrated, he compensates through daydreaming, artistic expression and interaction with the class caterpillar. Themes include family, poverty, language and communication, isolation and loneliness, persistence, understanding and forgiveness, art, personal growth (metamorphosis).

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Old Love

Old Love: Novelette by Jeffrey ArcherIn this story by Jeffrey Archer, a couple go from rivalry-inspired hatred at first sight to literally being unable to live without each other. From the time they meet as Oxford undergraduates in the 1930s, a fierce sense of competition between the gifted pair spurs them on to topping their class, attaining coveted professorships, and earning royal honours. After tragedy brings them together, the caustic relationship morphs into a life-long love affair during which legend has it they were never apart for more than a few hours. Themes include competiveness, lasting love, literature and the arts, dedication, achievement.

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Heart is Where the Home Is

Heart is Where the Home Is: Short story by Thea AstleyThis Thea Astley story is set during period of the Stolen Generations: sixty-years over which up to 100,000 Australian aboriginal children were forcefully removed from their families, placed in missionary schools, and trained to work in white society. Although the story recounts an aboriginal mother’s desperate attempt to save her child, a major theme is the strong connection her people have to “home” (their clan and land). When a white farming family offers her a safe haven away from the wretched camp she lives in, her answer is Not same. Other themes include racism, brutality, family, motherhood, courage, compassion.

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Cell One

Cell One: Short story by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieSome websites describe Nnamabia, the young protagonist in this story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, using terms such as ‘a wayward, rebellious son’. This is treating him too kindly. At the beginning of the story, Nnamabia is an entitled, spoiled, manipulative brat… too weak-willed to resist imitating the petty thefts of his peers, yet so cowardly that the only person he is game enough to steal from is his mother. Although he did not deserve the punishment he received at the hands of the so-called Nigerian justice system, he learnt some important lessons and came out of it a man.

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