The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones

The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones: Short story by Stephen Leacock This story by Stephen Leacock takes a sarcastic look at the themes of shyness and polite social conventions. Many readers mistakenly associate Melpomenus’s refusal to give a false reason to leave the house with his being a clergyman. Not so! In the introduction we are told the young curate was too modest (shy) to tell a lie. His downfall is because of shyness, not honesty. However, the absurd outcome is as much the over-polite hosts’ fault as it is Melpomenus’s. If anyone was responsible for his spirit rushing from the house like a hunted cat, it was them.

Continue ReadingThe Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones

Dog Star

Dog Star: Short story by Arthur C. ClarkeDog Star illustrates science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s sentimental side. Despite the title, the story has nothing to do with stars of the celestial kind. It does however feature a dog. An introverted astronomer finds and raises a lost puppy. On two occasions, the dog’s heightened senses save his life. The second time, the dog had been long dead. If you love animals, especially dogs, you are sure to be moved by the story. But BE WARNED… the conclusion has been known to bring tears to the eyes. Themes: kindness, human/animal bonding, career sacrifice, supernatural connections.

Continue ReadingDog Star

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime: Short story by Oscar WildeThis dark comedy from Oscar Wilde involves a gullible young aristocrat who believes a palm-reader’s prediction that he will commit a murder. Out of consideration for his fiancé, he decides that he should postpone their marriage until he can get the deed out of the way. Convinced that he is merely fulfilling his destiny, the young man feels no guilt in planning and preparing for murder, or indeed remorse afterwards. When he later learns that the palm-reader was a charlatan, he still has no regrets. Themes: the shallowness and hypocrisy of the Victorian upper class, destiny, murder, morals, karma.

Continue ReadingLord Arthur Savile’s Crime

The Tenth Man

The Tenth Man: Short story by Ida FinkIn this story by Ida Fink, a small group of Jewish holocaust survivors trickle back to their Polish village to try and rebuild their lives. There are eleven of them, nine men and two women. Five had hidden in the forests and one, a woman, had hidden in plain sight. The others had survived the camps. All are physically and/or psychologically scarred. The men wait in vain for a tenth to return so that prayers for the murdered might be properly offered in the ruins of their synagogue. Themes include devastation, survival, freedom, trauma, loss, piety.

Continue ReadingThe Tenth Man

Everything That Rises Must Converge

Everything That Rises Must Converge: Short story by Flannery O'ConnorFlannery O’connor is known for emphasizing her themes through flawed, often thoroughly dislikeable characters. In this story, she has paired a bigoted mother living in the past with a callous, disrespectful son. The son, a college graduate, considers himself intellectually and morally superior to his mother and delights in antagonizing the poor woman. The unfortunate climax comes at the end of a city bus trip when the mother insults her African American “doppelganger” by offering the woman’s young child a penny. Themes include (through Mrs. Chestny) sacrifice, heritage & appearance vs. character, racism; (through Julian) lack of respect, cruelty, self-deception.

Continue ReadingEverything That Rises Must Converge

Toba Tek Singh

Toba Tek Singh: Short story by Saadat Hasan MantoThis month marks the 75th anniversary of the partition of British India into two countries: Hindustan and Pakistan. Some years ago we featured Rajinder Singh Bedi’s Lajwanti, a Partition story from an Indian viewpoint. In honor of the occasion, we are pleased to provide this story from the Pakistan side by controversial writer Saadat Hasan Manto. This is not your usual Partition story of mass displacement and violence. Instead, it is a clever satire of the governments of the two countries, as reflected in a decision several years later to exchange institutionalized lunatics. Themes: insanity, separation, religious segregation, nationality, confusion, belonging.

Continue ReadingToba Tek Singh

Great Day

Great Day: Short story by David MaloufDavid Malouf’s Great Day takes place over the seventy-second birthday celebration for the patriarch of a large, close-knit Australian family. The story explores some of the differences and tensions between family members, as well as the state of mind of the patriarch. A powerful retired senior public servant with a commanding personality, he is consumed by thoughts of death. Two linked events, the destruction of a family museum and the subsequent moving words of a usually shy, tongue-tied family member bring a sense of peace to the old man and unification to the family. Themes: power, loss, dreams, connection, unification.

Continue ReadingGreat Day

Scout’s Honor

Scout's Honor: Short story by Edward Wortis (aka Avi)In this story from Edward Wortis (aka Avi), three bumbling friends demonstrate how not to go about passing a Boy Scout camping test. It is fortunate the story is set in the 1940s. If three nine year-olds were to set off as poorly prepared as they were these days, the ending probably wouldn’t be as happy. The major theme is that taking part in a challenge is more important that completing or winning it. Other themes: friendship, pride, poor planning and preparation, toughness (in this case being prepared to admit when something is too difficult), and scout’s honor (applied selectively!)

Continue ReadingScout’s Honor