The Lifted Veil

The Lifted Veil: Short story by Mary Ann Evans (aka George Eliot)The titular veil in this story by Mary Ann Evans (aka George Eliot) could refer to several things: 1) the veils of time and private thought, lifted by the protagonist’s psychic powers; 2) the veil of innocence, lifted when his future wife’s narcissistic, manipulative nature is revealed; and 3) the veil of death, lifted when a dead woman is brought back to life and reveals that his wife is planning to murder him. Themes include alienation and isolation, the supernatural (clairvoyance), betrayal, despair, free-will vs. fate, scientific morality (playing God), death.

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Death in the Woods

Death in the Woods: Short story by Sherwood AndersonThis story is heralded as Sherwood Anderson’s finest work. Containing very little dialogue, it tells of the sad life of an exploited, hard-working woman whose frozen body in the woods radiates a mystical beauty. If readers will excuse the pun, one aspect of the story leaves me a little cold. The first person narrator, a young boy, seems to have way too much information about the woman’s history to make the backstory he provides convincing. Themes include workplace abuse, poverty, loneliness and isolation, gender roles, beauty and desire, and from the narrator’s perspective, completion of one’s destiny (feeding animal life!).

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King Thrushbeard

Thrushbeard: German folktale from Brothers GrimmThe Brothers Grimm would have us believe that this folktale teaches a valuable lesson by documenting the fall of a spoiled princess who judges potential suitors by looks alone and is so ill-mannered that she says cruel things about them to their faces. Through her punishment (being married to a beggar street musician), we also learn that she has almost no household or practical skills. I’m not sure though about the central idea that the best way to teach humility is to publicly humiliate a person. Isn’t this what the princess was punished for at the beginning of the story?

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The Age of Lead

The Age of Lead: Short story by Margaret AtwoodIn this story by Margaret Atwood, a frozen 150-year-old body buried in the permafrost provides a lesson for the living. The story uses the solution to mystery cause of death of members of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition to highlight the dangers of consumerism and modern technology such as soil and water pollution, toxic waste and acid rain. The issues are brought home in the parallel story involving the the protagonist’s frustrating relationship with her eccentric, possibly gay lifetime friend who dies of an unknown viral infection. Themes include tragedy, side effects of consumerism and technology, individuality, friendship/unfulfilled love.

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Smart Ice-cream

Smart Ice-cream: Short story by Paul JenningsThe overall theme of this entertaining fantasy by Paul Jennings can be summed up in the English proverb Pride comes before a fall. Ironically, the protagonist’s boast about how good he is at English doesn’t seem to extend to idioms. If it did, he would have known that the smart alec ice-cream left in the van was meant for him and not Dadian. The only more fitting ending would be if he had also woken up with pimples and a big nose! Themes: (from the protagonist) haughtiness, cruelty, lack of compassion; (from Mr Peppi) kindness, magic, trickery.

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Lajwanti

Lajwanti: Short story by Rajinder Singh BediThanks to a 2006 tele-film, this has become Urdu writer Rajinder Singh Bedi’s signature story. Set in the violent upheaval of British India’s 1947 partition, it follows Sunderlal, a Hindu activist whose wife, Lajwanti, is abducted into Pakistan. The ironic descriptions of domestic life (Lajwanti considered vicious beatings from Sunderlal “normal”, and appears confused by the kind treatment of her Muslim captor) highlight traditional Indian attitudes towards women at the time. A second irony is that although Sunderlal campaigns for the rehabilitation of abducted women, he refuses to discuss Lajwanti’s experiences with her, preventing both from finding closure.

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The Black Cat

The Black Cat: Short story by Edgar Allan PoeThe Stephen Kings of the writing world tend to use external, often supernatural forces as their instruments of terror. With Edgar Allan Poe, the horror generally develops from the tortured mind of man. The protagonist here has lost his mind to alcoholism. Like many alcoholics, he becomes violent when in a drunken state. This is initially directed towards family pets. Extreme cruelty to animals can indicate psychopathic tendencies, and this proves true later in the story when he shows no remorse for any of his actions, including the murder of his wife. Themes: alcoholism, mental illness, brutality, death.

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An Unsound Sleep

An Unsound Sleep: Short story by Nhat TienThis story by Nhat Tien is set during the Vietnamese Buddhist Crisis of 1963. An old man’s contented existence is shattered when his only daughter is involved in, and subsequently jailed for, anti-government activities. Rather than focus on the violence of the revolt and ensuing CIA backed coup, the story contrasts the idealistic expectations of the daughter and her revolutionary boyfriend with what comes after. When released from prison the couple find that, although Buddhists have gained religious freedom, little else has changed. Themes include family, poverty, freedom, idealism, sacrifice, futility, alcohol abuse.

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