This story from William Trevor is set during the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. It contrasts the comfortable lives of those living behind the walls of a large English-owned estate with the misery of the rural poor. The issues are considered from multiple points of view, including those of servants and staff. Two major themes are acceptance and complacency. Although the plight of the rural poor initially disturbs newcomers, they soon become desensitized to the suffering, considering it a normal aspect of Irish life. Other themes: the gap between rich and poor, heritage, gender roles, religious faith and conflict. More…
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The Young Man Who Flew Past
Writers must have a disproportionate fascination with heights, because there are a number of well-known stories in world literature about people falling, jumping or being pushed/thrown from tall buildings. Published in 1915, this short satire of middle-class society by Arkady Averchenko may be one of the first. A husband throws his wife’s lover from the sixth floor window of their apartment building. Through the windows on the way down, the falling man sees different ways his life could have gone. As he reaches the bottom, he is happy with his gruesome fate. Theme: men’s ‘destiny’ (ambition, marriage, family, adultery, depression, death). More…
A Guide to Berlin
This early story by Vladimir Nabokov is not about places to see in Berlin, but rather the narrator’s observations of some everyday aspects of city life. Through a series of vignettes he describes pipes left on the footpath, the streetcar system, people he sees working on the streets, the city zoo and the pub in which he is drinking with a friend. The major theme is the relationship between time and memory: how some things we experience today will become “future recollections”, and the artist’s duty to record his/her experiences in detail for the benefit of future generations. More…
Henne Fire
Set in pre-World War 1 Poland, this story by Isaac Bashevis Singer explores how a small Jewish community interacts with a seemingly deranged woman who the narrator describes as not a human being but a fire from Gehenna [hell]. Her abusive behaviour forces her family to flee their home and, in keeping with the biblical analogy, small fires tend to pop up around her wherever she lives. A major theme of the story is community, reflected in the support she receives despite her offensive behaviour and the fire risk to neighbors. Other themes include madness, fear, alcohol abuse, the supernatural. More…
Bartleby the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street
Herman Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener is regarded as a classic of Modern Literature. A major theme is the depression that comes with being alone in the world and lacking a purpose in life. Other themes include exploitation, insensitivity and guilt (the Lawyer), conformity and coping with boring, repetitive work (Turkey and Nipper), alienation, apathy and passive resistance to one’s responsibilities (Bartleby), and loss of hope and the inevitability of death (symbolized by the Dead Letter Office). The Lawyer’s final words, Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!, reflect the irony of Bartleby finding himself in the two worst possible jobs for his disposition. More…