Examination Day

Examination Day : Short story by Henry SlesarSet in a late 20th century dystopian society, this story by Henry Slesar questions the acceptable limits of government control. A couple appears tense at the breakfast table on what should be a happy day, their only son’s twelfth birthday. The following week, the boy must take a government intelligence test. Although the father appears poorly educated, struggling to answer basic science questions, his son does well at school and is confident of passing. To their horror, he does even better and aces the exam. Themes include government control, fear, oppression, conditioning and acceptance, eugenics.

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The Crowd

The Crowd: Short story by Ray BradburyIn this chilling story by Ray Bradbury, a man badly injured in a car accident senses something ominous about the onlookers in the crowd that gathered around him. Several weeks later, he notices these same individuals at another accident. He searches newspaper archives and discovers that they and similar groups had attended hundreds of accidents over the last decade. Their sinister purpose is revealed when he has another car crash and they decide to “make him more comfortable”. Themes include morbid curiosity, schadenfreude, anonymity and the possibility of evil in a crowd, the supernatural.

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The Old Demon

The Old Demon: Short story by Pearl S. BuckIn this story by Pearl S. Buck, the widowed matriarch of a small Chinese village is too old to flee when it is bombed during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Left alone, she tends to a dying Japanese pilot and refuses to allow his body to be defiled by Chinese soldiers fleeing an advancing Japanese army. With help from her “Old Demon” (the Yellow River), she single-handedly stops the advance, saving her family and thousands of other villagers. Themes include family, change, the unpredictability and power of nature, the brutality of war, humanity, sacrifice.

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Exotic Pleasures

Exotic Pleasures: Short story by Peter CareyIn this science fiction story by Peter Carey, a poverty-stricken woman waiting as her husband applies for a mining job on a distant planet spends some of their last savings on a brightly coloured exotic bird. The bird has a unique quality… it gives a rush of euphoria followed by continuing pleasure to those who stroke it. The woman develops a lucrative business traveling the country selling time with the bird, little realizing that it has a dark side which will destroy her marriage and cause mass destruction. Themes include poverty, love, entrepreneurship, self-gratification, jealousy, biosecurity risks.

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The Daemon Lover

The Daemon Lover: Short story by Shirley JacksonIn this haunting psychological horror story by Shirley Jackson a woman wakes on what was to be her wedding day to realize that: 1) she may have been used and duped by a dapper writer’s promise of marriage; and 2) contrary to social expectations of the day, she may find herself “left on the shelf” at age thirty-four. In her desperatione to find the man she shows signs of mental instability, questioning whether the proposal was real or imagined. Themes include isolation and loneliness, social pressure, manipulation, imagination vs. reality, denial, obsession.

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A Work of Art

A Work of Art: Short story by Anton ChekhovIn this Anton Chekhov story the mother of a man too poor to pay for treatment sends his doctor a gift in gratitude for saving his life. There is only one problem: the gift, an antique bronze candelabra, features statuettes of two naked women in a not safe for work or home pose. The doctor passes it on as an unwelcome gift to his lawyer, who in turn donates it at a benefit for an aspiring comic actor. Unfortunately for the doctor, the actor decides to sell it. Themes include gratitude, perception (the subjectivity of art appreciation), morality, appearance, coincidence.

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The Pose

The Pose: Short story by Anwar KhanIn this story by Anwar Khan, an attractive Indian college student makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to exchange places with a mannequin in a shop window. She feels an immediate sense of comfort in being able to watch passers-by without inhibition. Shortly afterwards, she realizes that she is as much an exhibit to them as they are to her. Thinking she is a mannequin, men and boys openly lust over her and women stop and admire her beauty. She leaves the shop empowered by the experience. Themes include identity, (repressive) social conventions, performance, liberation, self-discovery. empowerment.

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Come Rain or Come Shine

Come Rain or Come Shine: Short story by Kazuo IshiguroThis story by Kazuo Ishiguro is a farcical satire of a man trying to save his stagnating marriage. He manipulates a mutual friend living overseas into providing company for his wife while he is away on business. The friend has achieved little in life and the husband hopes that the contrast will make his wife appreciate him more. A hilarious sequence of events unfolds as the friend tries to cover up damage he caused to the wife’s appointment book after reading unflattering entries about himself. Themes include friendship, alienation in marriage, manipulation, sacrifice, disappointment, the power of music, memories, regrets.

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