The message of this story by Tatyana Tolstaya is the need to let go of things that are no longer important to your life. The protagonist, who is moving alone into a new apartment, finds the remains of her childhood teddy bear while rummaging through a cupboard in her parents’ house. The find brings back long-suppressed memories and results in a feeling of overwhelming nostalgia. Sleeping next to the bear that night, she decides it has to go. Themes include hoarding, the relationship between objects, memories and feelings, sentimentality, moving on. More…
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The Blue Bead
This story by Norah Burke explores the simple, yet dangerous life of junglis (jungle and wild forest dwellers) in colonial India. A twelve-year-old girl, whose “life from birth to death is marked for work”, dreams about being able to complete a necklace she has started to make. When she saves a villager by fighting off a four-meter crocodile, she is more excited by a blue bead she later finds in the water than the danger she faced. Themes include poverty, life and survival in the forest, gender roles, perseverance, courage, reward/karma, finding happiness in small things. More…
Menagerie, a Child’s Fable
Like George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Charles Johnson’s confronting allegorical fable about animals left to fend for themselves in a locked pet shop is not for children. Some see the story as a religious allegory for the consequences (chaos and hell fire) of losing faith in God (Tilford) and listening to the devil (the monkey). Another interpretation is as a political allegory for the anarchy that can arise after a breakdown of authority and the rule of law, much like modern day (2024) Haiti. Themes include oppression, freedom and democracy, pluralism vs. racism, lawlessness and power (greed, violence, murder and rape). More…
The Mesmerizer
In this story taken from the Autobiography of Mark Twain, the author reminisces about a childhood prank that still haunts him in adult life. When a traveling mesmerizer (hypnotist) came to town, young Twain volunteered as a subject to show off before the public … and make the people laugh and shout and admire. His performance was so convincing that he fooled everyone in town. Later in life he comes to regret the deception, but learns that it can sometimes prove very difficult to undo a lie. Themes include showmanship, deception, the temporary nature of fame, cruelty, gullibility. More…
Black Is My Favorite Color
In this cynical take on 1960s race relations by Bernard Malamud, a Jewish-American shopkeeper turns the traditional racial discrimination debate on its head. Claiming to be open-minded and desirous of not only integrating with his local African-American community but also marrying into it, he finds himself shunned, vilified, beaten and rejected for his efforts. Some reviewers suggest that he has brought these problems upon himself by trying to be “too kind” and unintentionally coming across as privileged and condescending towards those he tries to help. Themes include racial inequality, racial and religious discrimination, interracial relationships, violence. More…