The Golden Goose

The Golden Goose: Folktale from the Brothers GrimmThe Golden Goose is about a kind but not very clever young man who one day shares his food with a hungry old man. The old man tells him where to find a goose that has feathers of gold. The goose has a strange power. Those who touch it, and any who touch them, cannot remove their hands. A king, who has a daughter that has never laughed, has promised that she will marry the first man to make do so. The man and goose, with seven people running behind stuck fast to them, look silly enough to do this.

Continue ReadingThe Golden Goose

Beggar My Neighbor

Beggar My Neighbor: Short story by Dan JacobsonIn this story by Dan Jacobson, a white South African boy is confronted by the cruel realities of racism when a charitable decision to give food to two black street children gets out of hand. As the children approach him with increasing frequency, his attitude towards them changes from pity and condescension to contempt and hatred. In an epiphany that comes in a dream, he realizes that they hate him just as much as he does them, and simply want to be treated with dignity. Themes include poverty, compassion, vanity, fantasy, social class, racism, humanity.

Continue ReadingBeggar My Neighbor

Birthmates

Birthmates: Short story by Gish JenLife for Gish Gen’s Chinese-American protagonist is not looking good. A salesman in a dying industry, he has recently divorced due to different “perspectives” on racism at work and his inability to grieve over his wife’s two miscarriages and a medical termination. Upon arrival at a sales convention, he finds that he has booked into a welfare hotel where playful children assault him the following morning. The kindness of one of its residents and a lost job opportunity cause him to finally face the loss of his wife and “child”. Themes: paranoia, self-esteem, alienation, loss, grief, cultural differences, racism, desperation.

Continue ReadingBirthmates

The Last Lovely City

The Last Lovely City: Short story by Alice AdamsThe city in this story from Alice Adams is San Francisco. An attractive young woman invites an aging, recently widowed doctor to a party where he encounters people who bring back unpleasant memories from his past. After fantasizing about a potential relationship with the woman, he learns she is an investigative journalist looking for a story. Disenchanted, he decides to move to Mexico to care for his ailing mother and help in two charity clinics he has established there. At least I more or less understand the corruption there, he argues. Themes: love, grief, memories, loneliness, hope, corruption, guilt/shame, selfishness.

Continue ReadingThe Last Lovely City

The Nail

The Nail: Short story by Pedro Antonio de AlarcónThis story by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón involves an extraordinary set of coincidences. A man is rejected after declaring his love for Mercedes, a beautiful South American widow he meets on a stagecoach. His friend is heartbroken when his fiancé Blanca disappears. The friend, a magistrate, occupies himself in pursuit of Gabriela, a woman sentenced to death for killing her husband by driving a nail through the top of his head. Both men are devastated when the woman they love and know by different names proves to be Gabriela. Themes include domestic violence, unrequited love, coincidence, deceit.

Continue ReadingThe Nail

Holiday

Holiday: Short story by Katherine Anne PorterIn this disturbing story from Katherine Porter, a young woman suffering undisclosed “troubles” decides she needs a holiday. On the recommendation of a friend, she visits the farm of a German immigrant family. During her stay, she feels a special connection with a “crippled, badly deformed” serving girl. Later, she is concerned to learn that the girl is the parent’s older daughter who, because of her disabilities, has been consigned to a life of drudgery and is largely ignored by the otherwise loving family. Themes: family, gender roles, the beauty and power of nature, alienation, suffering, life and death, humanity.

Continue ReadingHoliday

The Birthmark

The Birthmark: Short story by Nathaniel HawthorneIn this story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a brilliant scientist takes a break from his work to marry a woman of nearly perfect beauty. Her one “blemish” is a small hand-shaped birthmark on her left cheek. Much of the scientist’s work has involved (often unsuccessfully) trying to manipulate the laws of Nature. As he begins to obsess over the frightful birthmark, his wife agrees to allow him to remove it… even if it costs her life! The story’s message: the folly of pursuing human perfection; no one is flawless. Themes: perfection, obsession, hubris, religion, gender roles, submission/sacrifice, science vs. nature, mortality.

Continue ReadingThe Birthmark

What Do Fish Have to Do with Anything?

What Do Fish Have to Do with Anything?: Short story by Edward Wortis (aka Avi)The major theme of this story from Edward Wortis (aka Avi) is closed-mindedness. A struggling single mother still treats her sixth-grader son, Willie, as a young child. She is so preoccupied with her troubles that she doesn’t realize he is now an adolescent. Through prejudice, she shuns a beggar on the street. When Willie asks how to cure the beggar’s unhappiness, her answer is money. The beggar’s answer is cryptic: “What a person needs is always more than they (other people) say.” By this, he means everyone’s situation is different; we need to “open our eyes” to understand their needs.

Continue ReadingWhat Do Fish Have to Do with Anything?