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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Fairy Ointment

Fairy Ointment: English folktale from Joseph JacobsIn this folktale, a strange looking little old man asks a nurse to come to his house to help his sick wife look after their baby boy. The man’s wife gives the nurse some ointment to put on the baby’s eyes. Being curious, the nurse puts some of it on one of her own eyes. The family seemed normal enough up to this point. However, the ointment helps her to learn their secret. The nurse pays a heavy price for her actions when the old man finds out what she has done.

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The Schreuderspitze

The Schreuderspitzee: Short story by Mark HelprinIn this story by Mark Helprin, a grieving German photographer finds a unique way of getting over the accidental death of his wife and son. Two years after the accident, he disappears without trace. Leaving his lodgings and photographic equipment behind, he relocates to a small, remote town in the Alps. There, he decides to become a mountain climber and ascend the dangerous Schreuderspitze peak alone. He trains hard, teaches himself how to climb from books, buys the necessary equipment, and “succeeds” in a most unusual way. Themes include loss, grief, escape, isolation, a quest, dreams vs. reality, renewal.

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Liberty

Liberty: Short story by Julia AlvarezOn a superficial level, the speckled dog in Julia Alvarez’s Liberty symbolizes the freedom the protagonist’s family are looking forward to in America, and the freedom the girl hopes to find in her own country when she returns. On another level, it could symbolize the American consul: a seemingly ordinary person who causes trouble. Darker themes include implied American involvement in covert actions against her country’s government, the surveillance and atmosphere of fear that builds throughout, and the fact that the family’s freedom requires a sacrifice… turning their beloved dog loose to fend for itself.

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Heavy-Set

Heavy-Set: Short story by Ray BradburyRay Bradbury‘s character Lenny (Leonard) lives at home with his mother and has a lot going for him. He has a body-builder’s physique, secure job, nice car, and no shortage of girls wanting to go out with him. Unfortunately, he is also mentally and socially challenged. He doesn’t take disappointment or ridicule well, often barely able to control his temper. The story takes place over a Halloween night. Lenny is excited, but the party he was looking forward to is a flop, leading to a potentially explosive homecoming. Themes include alienation, repression, interdependence, arrested development, fitting in, fear, despair.

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