This story by Roald Dahl opens with a World War 2 fighter pilot trying to get his badly damaged plane back to England. As he muses about how stoically he will tell his ground crew that he has lost a leg, he is forced to bail out. He wakes up, his injuries already treated, in hospital. He is initially relieved to learn that he had landed in Brighton. However, over the next twenty-four hours, he gradually realizes that something is wrong. Themes: war casualties, courage, determination, deception (looks can be deceiving), duty.. More…
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The Harvest
This is one of a series of stories by Tomás Rivera about Mexican-American seasonal farm workers. The harvest is over and, as a group is looking forward to returning to their home base in Texas, they begin to wonder about the unusual behaviour of one of their older members. The single man with no family walks alone into the fields each afternoon, and refuses to allow anyone to follow. Rumors circulate among younger workers that he either is hiding his wages somewhere, or has found buried treasure. Themes include materialism, ritual, spiritual connection to nature and the land. More…
The Man with the Rose
In this story by Manuel Rojas, an evangelical priest is predictably dismissive when a man says he has “black magical” powers. The man begs to be put to the test, claiming that, if locked in a room for an hour, he can retrieve any distant object the priest nominates. The priest’s orderly view of the universe is shattered; not only when the man hands him a unique rose he requested from a Santiago convent, but also by what he saw when he unlocked the door and crept into the room twenty-five minutes early. Themes include religion, disbelief, disillusionment, the supernatural. More…
The Cow of the Barricades
This story from Raja Rao takes place during India’s struggle for independence from British rule. It highlights two major aspects of the conflict: the people’s desire for self-government, and the division within the people between those who supported Gandhi’s directive of passive resistance and those who advocated violent confrontation. The symbol of Gandhian resolution is a revered cow (a holy animal in Hindu culture) which, like many such advocates over the years, is martyred for the cause after leading a crowd of peaceful protesters to barricades as fighting is about to begin. Themes: independence, faith, nonviolent resolution of conflict. More…
A Scandal in Bohemia
This is the first of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes short stories. The hereditary King of Bohemia hires Holmes to retrieve (steal!) photographic evidence of a scandalous affair. Uncharacteristically, the great detective underestimates the jilted woman and is unable to complete the assignment. Rather than displaying frustration or anger, Holmes is smitten… not with love, but with admiration for her intellect. Themes: philandering, class, sexism, deception, underestimating one’s foe, respect. Some say that Holmes’s esteem for Adler suggests a feminist theme. However, as Watson says, she is the woman; the only one he ever regards so highly. More…