The Boy in the Tunnel / The Boy on the Tünel

The Boy in the Tunnel / The Boy on the Tünel: Short story by Sait Faik AbasıyanıkThis story by Sait Faik Abasıyanık describes a man’s thoughts as he watches an unkempt boy make his first trip on the Tünel (Istanbul’s Beyoğlu – Karaköy funicular railway). The boy, who is clearly from a poor family, tries hard to supress his feelings of excitement and wonder. His joy turns to discomfort when he senses the man and other passengers taking notice of his faint smile. Themes include 1) how things some of us take for granted can create magic moments for others; and 2) how, as we age, society conditions us to hide our feelings in public.

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Life

Life: Short story by Bessie HeadBessie Head sums up this story in a song title: “That’s What Happens When Two Worlds Collide”. Life, an attractive young prostitute, is forcibly relocated from the bright lights of Johannesburg to her home village in Botswana. Although premarital sex is an integral part of village life, payment for it is unheard of. Life shocks the villagers by taking up her old profession. They are even more shocked when she marries the village’s most eligible bachelor. Themes: village vs. city life (monotony vs. excitement, subsistence vs. easy money), cultural traditions (sexual norms, male domination, women as property), change, oppression, emancipation.

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Like the Sun

Like the Sun: Short story by R. K. NarayanThe major theme of this story by R. K. Narayan is the nature and consequences of truth. After observing that relationships involve tempering truth so as not to hurt one another, the protagonist adds that life is not worth living without telling nothing but the truth at least one day each year. On one of these days, his honesty upsets three people. The first two are needlessly hurt; the third, although unhappy, benefits from his frankness. The story shows that truth is indeed like the sun: most of the time warm and nourishing, but also capable of causing serious damage.

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Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Pie: Short story by Eugenia CollierLike the titular pie, life is sweet for a professor and his cab-driving older brother. The themes in this heart-warming Eugenia Collier story (poverty, family, sacrifice, education and gratitude) lie in how the two got where they are. A close-knit family works together to survive poverty, with the older children caring for the young and leaving school as soon as possible. The family can afford for only one child (the professor) to complete his education. Although his brother proudly hails him as a “somebody”, it is clear that their childhood experiences have helped both make successes of their lives.

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The Encyclopedia of the Dead

The Encyclopedia of the Dead: Short story by Danilo KišThe legendary Encyclopedia in this story by Danilo Kiš records minute details of the lives of all people not famous enough to have a published biography. Readers encounter two sets of themes: those related to the book, and those arising from the protagonist’s dream about her father’s entry in the book. For the book we have egalitarianism (equality in eternity), individuality (each person is a star unto himself) and singularity (nothing in the history of mankind is ever repeated). For the protagonist’s dream, which ends with a supernatural twist, we have memories, love, aging, and coming to terms with death.

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Waters of Gold

Waters of Gold: Chinese folktale from Laurence YepThis Chinese folktale retold by Laurence Yep is in two parts. First, readers encounter the kind-hearted Auntie Lily who has spent so much of her money helping others that she now lives in poverty. Her fortunes change for the better when she helps a filthy, foul-smelling beggar who everyone else ignores. Later, her greedy neighbour experiences a different result when, hoping for a similar reward, she helps the same man. The two parts show different sides of the “be kind to others” moral: kindness for kindness’s sake brings its own rewards; kindness in expectation of reward usually leads to disappointment.

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Walker Brothers Cowboy

Walker Brothers Cowboy: Short story by Alice MunroAlthough set in rural Ontario, there isn’t a cow to be seen in this Depression-era story from Alice Munro. The “cowboy”, once a successful fox farmer, is now a door-to-door household product salesman. The story’s central themes are father-daughter relationships, poverty, pride, dealing with reduced circumstances, and nostalgia. The man’s wife is bitterly resentful of the extent to which the family have “come down” in the world, while an arguably worse-off ex-girlfriend he and his children visit during one of his rounds is still able to enjoy life. Understandably, his daughter (the narrator) is somewhat disturbed by the meeting.

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Yesterday was Beautiful

Yesterday was Beautiful: Short story by Roald DahlWith the devastation currently taking place in Ukraine, we have decided to feature a story highlighting the misery of innocent victims of war. Roald Dahl’s short stories are known for their dark comedy and unexpected endings. There is nothing funny about this story. However, he does manage an unexpected twist that emphasizes the overall theme reflected in the title: In war, things can go from “beautiful” to your worst nightmare overnight. Other themes: (for civilians) indiscriminate bombing, senseless death and destruction, psychological trauma, anger, revenge; (for combatants) collateral damage, personal survival.

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