The major themes of this story by Patricia Highsmith are shattered dreams, hypocrisy, betrayal and the fragile nature of identity. A chance meeting with an eighteen-year-old girl at an airport revives bittersweet memories for a successful, seemingly happily married businessman. The girl, who bears a striking resemblance to his long obsessed over ex-girlfriend Phyl, later ends up in his hotel room and tries to seduce him. When he learns the next day that she is Phyl’s daughter and observes Phyl berating her for spending the night in a stranger’s room, his self-esteem and outlook on life are destroyed. More…
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Abuela Invents the Zero
The major themes of this Judith Ortiz Cofer story are respect and consideration for the feelings of others. The protagonist’s (Connie’s) Abuela deserved respect because of her age and family contribution. Instead, Connie appears put out by her visit. Her tone in describing what happens from the moment Abuela arrives to events in the church is condescending and belittling, showing little cultural awareness or thought for the poor woman’s frailty and possible senility. The self-admitted “jerk” is more worried about the inconvenience and “look” (her social image) than her Abuela’s feelings. Other themes: family, aging, responsibility, embarrassment. More…
The Continuity of Parks
Julio Cortázar‘s The Continuity of Parks is unusual in that it is a “story within a story” in which the two stories come together. The title stems from the fact that part of the setting of both stories is the same park at the same time. A tired businessman relaxes with a book. He becomes absorbed in the story (a murder mystery), unaware that the “hero” and “heroine” featured in the book are nearby preparing for the murder he is reading about, and that he is the intended victim! Themes include escape, betrayal, murder, the continuity between fiction and reality. More…
The True Story of Kanakapala, Protector of Gold
This “story within a story” from Raja Rao reads more like a reinterpreted folktale than a work of fiction. The unidentified narrator repeats a tale related by an old woman that includes elements of oral history, personal observation/interpretation, and gossip. The major themes of her story, which spans three generations, include piety, devotion, duty, greed, karma and the supernatural. The “glue” holding the story together is Kanakapala, a huge cobra that guarded a buried treasure bestowed upon Lord Shiva and the goddess Vishalakshi. Kanakapala literally “met its end” when its powers proved ineffective against rogue descendants of the treasure’s donor. More…
Camp Cataract
This story from Jane Bowles examines the toxic relationship between three troubled sisters who share a city apartment. One of them is midway through a ten-week holiday in a Camp Cataract cabin as part of a long-term plan to move out and live independently. When another turns up uninvited, hoping to convince her to cut the holiday short, they arrange to meet for lunch the next day. Both have different recollections of what happens the following morning. Madness intervenes, and only one of them survives the day. Themes: self-analysis, identity, independence, mental illness, spinsterhood, female relationships. More…