Glory

Glory: Short story by Lesley Nneka ArimahGlory (aka Glorybetogod), the protagonist in this Lesley Nneka Arimah story, is so screwed-up and irresponsible as to be almost likeable. As foreshadowed by her grandfather at birth, Glory’s history is one of poor life choices. At the end of the story, she has yet another decision to make. A “yes” will lead to the kind of life that most single Nigerian women her age dream of. A “no” could send her back to contemplating how a bottle of Moscato would pair with thirty gelcap sleeping pills. Themes: superstition, parental expectations, choices and consequences.

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A Retrieved Reformation

A Retrieved Reformation: Short story by O. HenryIn this story from William porter (aka O. Henry), safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine gives up his life of crime for love. He changes his identity, builds a successful business, and becomes a model citizen. Unfortunately, police detective Ben Price is hot on Jimmy’s trail. The title reflects Price’s decision to let Jimmy “retrieve” his “reformed” life after witnessing him risk it all to save a child. Themes: love, reform, redemption and identity. Love succeeds in reforming Jimmy where the justice system had failed. Redemption comes with Jimmy’s potential sacrifice. A possible moral: there is a Ralph Spenser (good side) in everyone.

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All the King’s Horses

All the King's Horses: Short story by Kurt VonnegutThe major theme of this Cold War allegory from Kurt Vonnegut is the human cost involved in resolving armed conflicts. The focus of the story is the moral dilemma faced by those in ultimate command… the need to put personal feelings aside and make strategic decisions that are likely to result in collateral losses. The story also reflects the dynamics of power in war: how the ordinary soldier, general population, and even vassal powers such as Pi Ying’s rebels, are mere pawns in a “game” beyond their control. Other themes: cruelty, dehumanization, sacrifice, manipulation.

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The Hack Driver

The Hack Driver: Short story by Sinclair LewisIn this amusing story by Sinclair Lewis, a newly qualified lawyer is sent to a small town forty miles into the countryside to serve a summons on a man needed for an important case. Although unsuccessful, he thoroughly enjoys his time with the helpful hack driver who drives him around all day, always one step behind his elusive quarry. He returns the next day with someone who knows the man he was looking for, and finds him standing beside his hack at the station. Themes include naivety, blind faith, deception and trickery, country vs. city life.

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The Woman Who Came at Six O’Clock

The Woman Who Came at Six O'Clock: Short story by Gabriel Garcia MárquezThe central theme of this early Gabriel Garcia Márquez story is perception of others. ‘Queen’, the six o’clock regular in José’s restaurant, is a prostitute. Queen’s customers see her as a sex object, to be used and sometimes abused. The police see her as an alcoholic miscreant who cannot be trusted. José, who professes platonic love for Queen, sees the vulnerable human being within. Queen, who claims to be disgusted by all men, sees the caring, kind-hearted José only as someone to be taken advantage of. Other themes: habit, murder, naïveté vs. worldliness, misunderstanding, reputation.

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The Love Potion

The Love Potion: Short story by Herman BosmanA major theme of this Herman Bosman story is the importance of tradition, myth and storytelling in the lives of Boer settlers. The narrator begins by asserting that everyone in the Marico knows that juba-berry juice can make a woman fall in love with a man. He then relates a tongue-in-cheek story of how he once “helped” a shy policeman use the juice to win a girl’s heart. The ambiguous ending leaves it unclear whether the potion really worked. Other themes: love, fear of rejection, superstition/magic vs. reality, morality (lack of respect for the girl and her right to decide).

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The Disappearance

The Disappearance: Short story by Chitra DivakaruniChitra Divakaruni’s hard-hitting story of a woman’s “disappearance” is told from her Indian-American husband’s point of view. After a year of denial, he accepts that she has left him. Their arranged marriage, although blessed with a son, had become intolerable for her. Years later, living in a nursing home and estranged from their son, he reflects on how much his wife must have hated him to leave the boy. The old man still fails to appreciate the effect his repression and sexual abuse would have had upon the poor woman! Themes include insensitivity, authoritarianism, marital rape.

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In the Region of Ice

In the Region of Ice: Short story by Joyce carol OatesIn this story by Joyce Carol Oates, a young nun teaching her first semester at a Jesuit university is confident in her academic role but feels confused and alienated by the outside world. Things change when a brilliant but mentally disturbed Jewish graduate student joins her literature class. Although stimulated by his questions and probing mind, he exhibits a need for emotional support beyond her comfort zone. When she refuses a request to lend him money and take his hand, he becomes hysterical and verbally abusive. Themes include identity, connection (emotional detachment), mental illness, alienation, faith, compassion.

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