The Hitchhiking Game

The Hitchhiking Game: Short story by Milan KundaraIn this story by Milan Kundera, a young couple on a road trip play what they think is a harmless game. The woman, normally shy and sexually inhibited, plays the role of a seductive hitchhiker. She finds the experience liberating, but carries the game too far. The man, who liked the woman for her purity, now sees her as no different to all other girls he has known. He begins to hate her, and humiliates the poor woman in a hotel room. Themes include identity, fantasy vs. reality, purity vs. promiscuity, jealousy, misogyny and cruelty.

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Counterfeit Bills

Counterfeit Bills: Short story by Richard MathesonRichard Matheson is renowned for his novels and traditional short stories in the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres. This is one of his few published flash stories, and the fact that it is a spoof of the science fiction cloning model makes it especially interesting. The story is based on the premise of how nice it would be to have a ‘double’ to carry out all the mundane tasks in your life, so you could spend all your time going out and having fun. Despite (or perhaps thanks to) the corny puns, it is a very enjoyable Quick Read.

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Eraser Tattoo

Eraser Tattoo: Short story by Jason ReynoldsIn this story by Jason Reynolds, teenage lovers try to come to grips with being separated after the girl’s family decides to move interstate when their rented apartment of twenty years is sold and leased to a young white couple. The two have been close friends since childhood, and the controlling girl has insisted on burning her initial into the boy’s arm as a token of his enduring devotion. She refuses a tattoo, suggesting her level of commitment may not be as strong. Themes include teenage love, separation, memories, letting go and moving on with life, race and gentrification.

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Unto Dust

Unto Dust: Short story by Herman BosmanThe major themes of this story by Herman Bosman are attitudes towards the dead, and equality in death. A Boer farmer and native enemy die side by side while fighting in a ‘Transvaal Kafir War’. When the farmer’s friends return to take his body home for a proper burial, they find that wild animals have mixed up the bones. The friends spend a lot of time trying to sort out which is which so that the dead farmer does not have to lie forever among the warrior’s bones. A yellow ‘kafir’ dog judges the result. Other themes: war, mateship, racism.

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The Eatonville Anthology

The Eatonville Anthology: Short story by Zora Neale HurstonRather than a single story, Zora Neale Hurston’s Eatonville Anthology is a series of vignettes and anecdotes about life in a small African-American community outside Orlando, Florida in the early 1920s. Eatonville was Hurston’s hometown, and the power of her anthology is that each story is based on either real people and events or local folklore. This and the use of authentic dialect capture the local color and folksy spirit of the town, and highlight an important theme: the traditional role of storytelling in preserving cultural heritage. Other themes: community, connection, change.

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Misery / The Lament

Misery / The Lament: Short story by Anton ChekhovIn this story by Anton Chekhov, sledge driver Iona Potapov is distraught because his son has died and he feels alone in the world. Another translation of the title is “The Lament” (a show of sorrow for someone who has died or something that is gone). The story addresses the question: What could be worse than the sadness associated with losing a loved one? Chekhov’s answer: To feel so lonely and cut off from the world that you have no one to talk to about it.. Themes include grief, discomfort, indifference, cruelty, loneliness, the healing power of animals.

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Amnesty

Amnesty: Short story by Octavia E. ButlerIn this story by Octavia Butler, Earth’s economy collapses following the arrival of an advanced alien race that settles in the world’s deserts. A reluctant co-existence develops when it becomes clear that the aliens cannot be destroyed. The protagonist, kidnapped by the aliens at age eleven and subjected to cruel experiments, is now an Interpreter for one of their “communities”. Her current mission: to “calm” and prepare six recruits for well-paid positions translating for other communities. Although they need the job, the applicants are full of anger and hostility towards the aliens. Themes: fear, ignorance, social experimentation, torture, hatred, détente.

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The Pearl

The Pearl: Short story by John SteinbeckThis novella from John Steinbeck describes a battle between good and evil and exposes the best and worst in human nature. Sadly, evil wins out. An uneducated Mexican-Indian pearl diver from a poor fishing community outside a Spanish town dreams of a better life for his family after discovering a pearl as large as a sea-gull’s egg on the ocean floor. After multiple instances of townspeople trying to manipulate and cheat him and later, to violently steal the pearl, his dream turns into a tragic nightmare. Themes: family/community, racism, colonialism, oppression, materialism, greed, corruption, fate.

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