In this story by Ralph Ellison a young, idealistic black man survives when his plane crashes into a field while training to become an air-force pilot. He has been obsessed with flying since a child, and believes that as a pilot he can dispel common stereotypes about the intelligence and capability of African-Americans. Ironically, although he is angry about the condescending way the air force’s white training officers treat him, he also demonstrates a condescending attitude towards the old black farm hand comforting him while awaiting help. Themes include childhood dreams, racism, injustice, ambition/search for identity, failure, shame, humiliation, anger. More…
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(Because) We’re Very Poor
This story by Juan Rulfo describes the devastating impact of an unexpected flood on a post-revolutionary Mexican farming family and, in doing so, highlights the limited life choices available to children of the rural poor. Told in the form of a narrative by a boy, we learn that in addition to losing their entire crop, his family lost a precious cow intended to provide “capital” to prevent his twelve-year-old sister from following their older sisters into prostitution. His mother questions God; his father accepts their fate. Themes include family, poverty/social injustice, the unpredictability and power of nature, helplessness, fatalism, prostitution.
All the Years of Her Life
The major theme of this coming of age story by Morley Callaghan is motherly love and devotion. Six months into a job at a drugstore the protagonist, seemingly in his late teens, is caught pilfering goods. Rather than call the police immediately, the proprietor contacts his mother who rushes to the store and convinces the owner not to press charges. The wayward boy’s attitude to life changes when he sees the contrast between his mother’s calm, dignified manner at the drugstore and the trembling, nervous wreck she becomes at home. Other themes include petty crime, shame, empathy, guilt, personal growth. More…
A Country Doctor
In this dream-like story by Franz Kafka, a country doctor experiences an existential crisis when his response to a call for help during a severe snowstorm sets off a surreal chain of events. The doctor’s horse has died, and a mystery groom who appears out of his pigsty with two unearthly horses rapes his housemaid as he leaves. When it becomes clear that the patient’s wound is incurable, the doctor is stripped naked in a pagan ritual and laid beside the dying man. Themes include isolation, duty, powerlessness, inner conflict, existentialism, loss of faith (in himself and his profession). More…
The Water-Faucet Vision
In this humorous story by Gish Jen, a Chinese-American woman whose mother recently passed away reflects on a brief period in her childhood when her mother somehow fell out of their bedroom window. At the time of the fall she was a fifth grader in a Catholic school, obsessed with the idea of becoming a martyr and performing miracles. When her precious comfort beads fall through a drainage grate in the road, she wakes to a “vision” telling her how to recover them. Themes include religious belief, marital conflict, family, friendship, loss. More…