The Delicate Prey

The Delicate Prey: Short story by Paul BowlesThis controversial story by Paul Bowles is not for the squeamish. Two leather merchants and their nephew set off across the Algerian desert to sell their wares. After several days a stranger fearful of bandits in the area approaches and asks to accompany them. One night, the stranger lures the merchants away from camp on the pretext of going hunting. He ambushes and shoots them, then tortures and kills the youth. The crime is discovered when the stranger tries to sell their distinctive leatherworks. Tribal justice is swift and brutal. Themes include greed, deceit, extreme violence, vengeance.

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Mahesh / The Drought

Mahesh / The Drought: Short story by Sarat Chandra ChattopadhyayThis story by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay highlights the plight of the rural poor in colonial India. After years of drought, a landless Indian farmer lives on handouts, sharing what little he and his daughter have with Mahesh, his beloved bull. After the starving animal escapes and raids his cruel zamindar’s garden, the poor man is severely beaten and given a heavy fine. Angry and frustrated when Mahesh later breaks a pitcher of precious water, he does the unthinkable. Themes include poverty, social injustice (exploitation and deprivation), devotion/human-animal bonding, the potential devastating effects of nature on rural communities.

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Old Woman Magoun

Old Woman Magoun: Short story by Mary E. Wilkins FreemanIn this story by Mary R. Wilkins Freeman an old woman takes drastic action to prevent her granddaughter’s father from trafficking her to settle a gambling debt. The girl’s mother had died shortly after she was born. Wary of the shiftless, hard drinking men of the town, the grandmother had raised her in sheltered isolation. Now fourteen and innocent to the ways of the world, her father demands that she be handed over. Desperate, the grandmother turns to nature to “spare” her. Themes include patriarchy and gender roles, over-protectiveness, alcohol abuse, human trafficking, innocence, piety, love, despair, mercy killing.

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Sredni Vashtar

Sredni Vashtar: Short story by H. H. Munro (aka Saki)In this dark story by Saki, a sickly ten-year-old boy masks his hatred for the “Woman”, a controlling guardian who thwarts his every pleasure in his life. To cope, he acts out fantasies in a disused tool-shed in a forgotten corner of her garden. There, in response to the Woman’s religious zeal, he worships a caged polecat-ferret named Sredni Vashtar. When she notices his absorption in the tool-shed and tries to clear it out, Sredni Vashtar answers his prayers. Themes include oppression vs. freedom, isolation and loneliness, imagination vs. reality, religion, rebellion, revenge.

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Three Girls

Three Girls: Short story by Joyce Carol OatesIn this story by Joyce Carol Oates a woman recalls when, as a college student, she and a fellow girl-poet encountered a woman they believed to be a heavily disguised Marilyn Monroe browsing in a used bookstore. Torn between acknowledging the woman and protecting her privacy, they choose the latter. “Marilyn” gives them a book as a memento and leaves. For the girls, who are coming to grips with their sexuality and mutual attraction against social norms of the time, the shared experience triggers a first kiss. Themes include identity, gender norms, sexuality, passion, courage, stereotypes.

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Punishment

Punishment: Short story by Rabindranath TagoreThe central theme of this story by Rabindranath Tagore is the dehumanization of women under India’s patriarchal social structure. When a farmer murders his wife in a fit of rage, his brother asks his wife to take the blame, promising to testify that she did it in self-defence. In court she denies this, pleads guilty, and is sentenced to hang. For her, love and hope died when her husband asked her to lie and she saw death as preferable to a life of misery. Other themes include poverty, exploitation, jealousy, betrayal, the unpredictable consequences of a lie.

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In Memory of Pauline

In Memory of Pauline: Short story by Adolfo Bioy CasaresIn this story by Adolfo Bioy Casares, childhood sweethearts grow up believing their “souls are united”. From the man’s perspective: Life was a pleasant habit which led us to look upon our eventual marriage as something natural and certain. He takes the relationship for granted, doesn’t express his love, and she marries someone else. Shattered, he accepts a two-year scholarship to study abroad. On his return, she visits his apartment and falls into his arms. When he goes looking for her the next day, a friend has shocking news. Themes include childhood love, complacency, jealousy, loss, memory, the supernatural.

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Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums: Short story by Feng JicaiThis story by Feng Jicai is set in the aftermath of the Chinese cultural revolution. A famous painter struggling emotionally with being banned from practicing his art finds solace, firstly in the beauty of phoenix-tail chrysanthemums growing in a greenhouse, and later in clandestinely carving ornate pipes. The story contrasts the shallow, selfish nature of the painter’s admirers and peers with the humble generosity of the old greenhouse-keeper, who may be the only character who truly appreciates his artistry. Themes include the beauty of nature, artistic passion and the psychological impact of suppressing it, intellectual snobbery, misjudgement, regret.

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