The major theme of this Jhumpa Lahiri story is the personality clashes that can arise in hasty or arranged marriages. Sanjeev is a conservative, up-and-coming corporate engineer. “Twinkle”, his free-spirited, scatty wife is completing her master’s thesis in poetry. They have known each other for only four months, and both are used to getting their own way. A battle of wills arises over the fate of several Christian items left by the former occupants of their new house. The key questions: Who will win, and will the marriage survive? Other themes: love, cultural adjustment (male dominance vs. shared decision-making), understanding/tolerance. More…
Category Archives: Short Stories
The Whimper of Whipped Dogs
This horror story from Harlan Ellison uses magical realism to explain a crime: the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese. Newspapers at the time (incorrectly) reported that 38 people, none of whom did anything to help, witnessed her stabbing. Here, a witness to a particularly brutal murder senses an evil presence. She later learns that it was a form of black mass, and joins the demonic cult as a means of survival. Themes include negative aspects of city life (competitive pressure, lack of connection, loneliness), behavioral effects of city life (depression, insensitivity, anger, rudeness, aggression, violence), supernatural (demonic) forces, and cultism. More…
Six Feet of the Country
This early apartheid-era story by Nadine Gordimer highlights the white South African bureaucracy’s callousness and cultural insensitivity towards other races. While city-dwelling whites live in fear, the unnamed protagonist and his wife peacefully co-exist with their black farm workers on a small property just out of town. When the visiting brother of one of their workers dies, the authorities take the body away for autopsy. After paying £20 to have it returned for burial, they find a different body in the coffin. Major themes: racism and inequality (even in death!), change. More…
The Other
In this story by Jorge Borges, a younger man sits beside an aging teacher sitting on a riverside bench. As they talk, the teacher realizes that the younger man is himself at an earlier age. An ‘impossible’ date on an American banknote convinces the skeptical young man this is true. The teacher concludes that while the meeting was real and he definitely took part in it, the younger man wasn’t really there… he was dreaming the encounter! This begs the question, Could it have been the other way around? Themes include human existence, time, memory, dreams, old age, relativism. More…
All You Zombies
Despite the title, this fascinating story from science fiction writer Robert Heinlein has nothing to do with zombies of the “walking dead” kind. Rather, it is a cleverly constructed brainteaser that explores some potential problems and paradoxes of time-travel. We can’t say more without spoiling the story, but can tell you that first time readers usually come away with their heads spinning from trying to work out “who is who” and “who did what to whom”. If you are similarly confused, Wikipedia has an excellent summary of the relationships and sequence of events here. Themes: time-travel, intersexuality, isolation. More…
Trick or Treat
In this disturbing story by Padgett Powell a bored, frustrated housewife is approached by a twelve-year-old boy intent on exploring his sexuality. Notwithstanding the fact that the woman, who frequently walks past the boy’s house, is old enough to be his mother, he is fixated on having sex with her. The woman, who had sought relief from her unsatisfying marriage before, compares the tryst and the prospect of some comical but not ungratifying sex with the boy to Orpheus’ ascent from the underworld. Themes include boredom and dissatisfaction, escape, sexuality, desire, machismo, illicit relationships/child grooming. More…
The Egg
This dark comedy from Sherwood Anderson follows a contented farmhand and his ambitious wife who, after starting a family, decide to pursue the American Dream. In their first venture, a chicken farm, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. More troubles follow when they move closer to town and open a diner. The stressed husband tries to help business by being someone he is not (an entertainer), and ends up “with egg on his face”. The egg, which usually symbolizes the cycle of life, is for them a symbol of the cycle of poverty. Other themes: death, isolation, hope. More…
Kabuliwallah
If you are a parent, this touching story by Rabindranath Tagore may well bring a tear to your eye. One of Tagore’s most popular stories, it describes an unlikely friendship between the precocious five-year-old daughter of a middle-class Bengali writer and an Afghani fruit-seller (Kabuliwallah). When the Kabuliwallah visits on the girl’s wedding day after an eight-year stint in prison, she barely acknowledges him. On learning why the fruit-seller had spent so much time with his daughter, the writer and Kabuliwallah form an instant bond. Themes: childhood innocence, friendship, growing up, change, class, prejudice, fatherly love. More…
Bread of Sacrifice
Set during the 1947-1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, this story by Samira Azzam describes a tragic romance between a Palestinian fighter defending the city of Acre and a young nurse who elected to remain after her family had fled. Both are idealistic and prepared to die out of love for their homeland. The girl is shot delivering a basket of bread to the starving men on the soldier’s roof-top barricade. The men face a dilemma… eat something prohibited under Islamic law (a dead dog), or bread soaked in the martyred woman’s blood. Themes include love, patriotism, courage, death. More…
The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind
This story by Ray Bradbury is thought to be an allegory of the nuclear arms race. This took place from 1947 to 1991 during the “Cold War” between the United States and Russia. The “Mandarins” who began the Cold War were Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin. One wonders if the first Mandarin’s daughter alludes to Truman’s wife Bess. Truman once said he never made an important decision without first seeking her thoughts. Moreover, Bess edited many of his speeches. She is known to have made changes to his famous speech outlining the Truman Doctrine, which started it all. More…
The Demon Lover
In this horror story by Elizabeth Bowen, a woman returns to her large, war-damaged city house to collect personal items. The house had been locked up, nobody knew she was coming, yet there is a letter addressed to her sitting on a table. It had been hand delivered earlier that day and is an anniversary greeting ending with the words: You may expect me at the hour arranged. Someone (possibly the spirit of a former soldier-lover) may be in the house or coming for her. Themes include the trauma of war, gender stereotypes, doubt, imagination and fear, betrayal and revenge. More…
Think of England
In this coming of age story by Peter Ho Davies, a sixteen-year-old Welsh barmaid will always remember D-day. Her section of the pub is full of English soldiers and BBC radio workers who are celebrating and drinking heavily. First, she has to put up with offensive jokes from a BBC comedian about the Welsh, and in particular Welsh women. Later, her secret “sweetheart” (an English soldier she has known for a only week, and with whom she has exchanged her first ‘real’ kisses), tries to rape her. Themes include national pride and identity, xenophobia, sexual assault, redemption. More…
Vanka
This poignant Christmas story by Anton Chekhov relates how a young boy recently apprenticed to a shoemaker writes a letter to his grandfather pleading to be taken home. He complains of continually being beaten and mistreated, and has no one to turn to for comfort. The city and its ways are foreign to him, and he misses the Christmas preparations and season’s joy in his home village. Sadly, his incompletely addressed letter will never reach its destination. Themes include social class, child-family separation, child abuse, innocence, loneliness, misery, desperation and hope. More…
Poison
Roald Dahl is best known for short stories that make their point using dark humor and have a surprise ending. This story exhibits neither of these features. The central theme is the racism that existed under British colonial rule. Dahl gets the message across through this allegory about the way a British businessman acted badly towards an Indian doctor who answered his call for help in the middle of the night and may well have saved his life. In the story we learn that there are several kinds of poison. Unlike the deadly krait, some of them kill quite slowly. More…
Only the Dead Know Brooklyn
New arrivals in a city often learn things and visit places that long-term residents don’t know about. In this humorous story from Thomas Wolfe, a stranger demonstrates this to the annoyance of the well-meaning but increasingly agitated narrator. The highly opinionated men differ over the narrator’s warnings about the dangers of the “nice sounding” Brooklyn neighborhoods the stranger has chosen for his nightly walks. To make matters worse, the stranger insists that all one needs to feel safe and get to “know” the city is a good map. Themes: connection, pride, perception, fear, curiosity. More…
Janus
Ann Beattie’s Janus is about a realtor (Andrea) who strategically places her most prized possession (a decorative, “lucky” bowl) in houses she is showing in the belief it will help them sell. The titular Janus is the two-faced Roman god of duality; the lover who gave Andrea the bowl calls her “two-faced” for not leaving her husband. The central theme, symbolized by the bowl, is the choices modern women must make, as between career and family, financial security and struggle, husband and lover, etc. Andrea’s choices bring career and financial success, but not happiness. Other themes: aesthetic appreciation, deception, emptiness. More…
A Hunger Artist
Themes of Franz Kafka’s A Hunger Artist include alienation and isolation, spiritual emptiness, art, voyeurism, exploitation, change and suffering. The unnamed artist does not hunger for food, but rather artistic recognition and spiritual fulfillment. When, as often happens, public tastes change, he has outlived his usefulness and is quickly forgotten. The story has variously been described as an allegory of the suffering of artists for the sake of their art, a metaphorical representation of the life of Jesus, and a reflection of the tortured final years of Kafka’s own life as an alienated artist dying from tuberculosis. More…
The Subliminal Man
This 1963 story from J. G. Ballard envisions a dystopian future where people’s lives are conditioned by subliminal messages disseminated through advertising billboards and the mass media. The hidden messages, which appear to be officially sanctioned ‘to stimulate the economy’, compel people to buy things they don’t need or replace perfectly good recent purchases. Ominously, the major products involved are linked to powerful monopolies. The story is a biting satire of (then) modern advertising and its contribution to the post-war consumerism and rising household debt levels of the 1950s. Themes: conspiracy, technology, advertising, consumerism, debt, dehumanization (loss of free will). More…
That in Aleppo Once…
The title of this Vladimir Nabokov story is an allusion to Shakespeare’s Othello. Several characters reflect those in the famous play, and it shares the same major theme (jealousy). The story is more than the tale of a deceitful, adulterous wife who may have only married the older narrator to escape the German occupation. The narrator’s heartbreak has caused him to question not only his wife’s existence, but also whether life is worth living. His letter is an attempt to unburden himself, and create some hope for the future. Other themes: escape, betrayal, deception, uncertainty, suicide (implied by the title). More…
The Time Machine
In this story by Dino Buzzati, a scientist builds a luxurious walled city in which a machine slows down time. Animals and plants grow and age half as quickly as those outside, allowing occupants to live for two centuries. Residency is expensive and, once inside, it is impossible to leave as the effects of normal time will be fatal. Life in the city proves not to be the utopia residents expected, and ends in disaster when something happens to the machine. Themes include self-preservation, alienation, monotony, the dangers of relying on technology and toying with the basic laws of nature. More…
The Fly
Katherine Mansfield‘s The Fly is about death, grief and aging. Two old men handle their sons’ wartime deaths differently. Six years have passed. Mr Woodifield, in poor health physically and mentally, has come to terms with the loss of his son. “The boss”, healthy and successful, still grieves… but not for his son. He laments the sacrifices he made in preparing the boy to take over his business, and shows his true character by torturing a fly. This leaves him feeling wretched and frightened. Could the fly’s struggles have reminded him that even the strongest (himself included) eventually die? More…
Swaddling Clothes
The major theme of Yukio Mishima’s Swaddling Clothes is the loss of traditional Japanese values to Western modernization. Other themes include class, morality, gender roles, compassion, fear, and sacrifice/atonement. The callous swaddling of an illegitimate baby in newspaper and protagonist Toshiko’s conviction that it is destined to grow up a poverty-stricken criminal underlines Japan’s rigid class structure. Her husband’s heartless description of the delivery demeans women who contravene social norms. When Toshiko does this (by taking a walk alone at night to contemplate her own child’s future and unsatisfying Western lifestyle), she comes face to face with her prophesy. More…
The Outlaws
The story from Selma Lagerlöf involves two medieval fugitives who meet and become close friends while hiding out in the Swedish wilderness. The men differ greatly in physique, confidence, class, religious belief and the seriousness of their crimes. One has murdered a monk; the other has admitted to stealing a fishing net. The only thing they have in common is that their charges arose because of manipulating women. To his ultimate cost, the murderer tries to help the fisherman (a pagan) by teaching him the fundamentals of Christianity. Themes: living in nature, mateship, culture, betrayal, religion, repentance, ‘justice’. More…
Cranes
Hwang Sun-won’s Cranes shows how humanity can outweigh ideology. Two childhood friends find themselves on opposite sides in the Korean War. One, a village commander, is captured and the other assigned to take him for interrogation and probable execution. When asked why he did not flee, the captured man talks about his aged father’s connection to the land. The other man can relate to this, because he carries the guilt of having left his family when he went away to war. This prompts the captor to suggest they go off on a crane hunt, as they did once as boys. More…
What Shall We Do When We All Go Out?
In this story by Gregorio Gregorio C. Brillantes, a nine-year-old Philippine boy’s childhood innocence is shattered over the course of a school term. His public servant father has been relocated to a large provincial town. The boy likes this town more than the smaller ones they had lived in, and is very happy in his new school. Two events destroy his comfortable outlook on the world: the death of a classmate followed by a school field-trip to view his body, and his forced initiation under threat of violence into a gang of older students. Themes include innocence, death, violence, intimidation, fear. More…
The Ordinary Son
The story from Ron Carlson is a satire of 1960s life and its fixation with science, war, protest and material possessions. Protagonist Reed had a spartan, lonely childhood. His parents (NASA physicist father and poet/activist mother) are eccentric geniuses. His brother and sister are equally intelligent. When Reed discovers he is “ordinary”, he feels a sudden sense of relief and freedom. He gets a low-level job, buys a car, drinks beer and goes fishing for the first time, and fantasizes over a lewd picture he sees in a magazine. Themes: family, materialism, diversity, pressure to meet expectations, work/life balance, sexuality. 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…
The Doctor’s Word
In this story by R. K. Narayan, a doctor renowned for telling patients the truth, even if the news is bad, faces a dilemma. A seriously ill close friend asks for a prognosis, saying that if he is dying he must finalize his will to protect his wife and children. The doctor doesn’t think he will survive the night, and is concerned that the shock of hearing this will kill him. He must choose between telling the truth, or lying to give is friend hope and a small chance of survival. Themes include truthfulness, friendship, faith, hope, choices and consequences. More…
In the Night
This story from Jamaica Kincaid shares several features mentioned in our analysis of another of her stories, Girl. These include the major theme of mother-daughter relationships, use of poetic techniques (especially repetition) and mystical references to Obeah (Antiguan witchcraft). A young girl takes a dreamlike walk through the night. It is an unstable, irrational world in which she encounters a vampiric woman, zombie-like man, and shape-shifting Jablesse. As the night becomes more threatening, she finds protection, comfort and permanent happiness in the arms of a loving, motherly figure. Other themes: darkness, dreams, the supernatural, confusion, fear, comfort, love. More…
The Fiddler
In this story from Herman Melville, the major theme (finding the right balance between ambition, fame and happiness in life) is introduced indirectly through a chance meeting. A struggling writer is in a “desperate mood” after negative reviews of his latest work. His life changes when he is introduced to a contented, good-humored man who goes house to house teaching the fiddle. The writer admires the way “commonplace” fiddler, who appears to have no special talents, is able to live life to the fullest. Enlightenment comes when he learns the fiddler’s secret. Other themes: accepting criticism, judging by appearances. More…
Désirée’s Baby
Kate Chopin’s Désirée’s Baby Kate Chopin’s Désirée’s Baby reflects the culture of America’s ‘Deep South’ in the mid-1800s. The name Désirée originates from the French word for desire. Armand Aubigny, a young plantation owner who is proud, bigoted and harsh on his slaves, marries the orphaned Désirée for her beauty. He is not concerned about her unknown background until she has a mixed-race baby. His reaction causes Désirée to run from the house and flee with the baby into the bayou. Some weeks later, Armand uncovers an even more devastating secret. Themes (see below) include love, impulsiveness, racism, elitism, shame and/or vindictiveness, and identity. More…
Night
In this heart-wrenching story by Tatyana Tolstaya, an impoverished eighty-year-old woman struggles to cope with task of looking after her middle-aged, severely retarded son. The man is dependent on his mother’s directions to get him through the day. He has virtually no social skills, is confused about women, and is prone to violent outbursts and extreme behaviour when things don’t go his way. The story begs but does not answer the question: What will happen when his mother is no longer around to take care of him? Themes: love and devotion, mental health, alienation, poverty, fear, dreams and fantasy. More…
A Choice of Butchers
In this confronting story from William Trevor, a seven-year-old boy is faced with several issues he is far too young to understand: a hard-drinking, overbearing father he catches passionately embracing their maid; a monetary gift and unexpected good-night kiss from their soft-spoken, empathetic lodger; and a perpetually tired, unaffectionate mother who appears to passively accept her lot. Add to this that he is an “afterthought child” with both parents in their fifties and the question of why a butcher’s family would need a maid, and the story becomes an amateur psychological sleuth’s dream with some serious unstated themes. More…
A Handful of Dates
This story by Sudanese author Tayeb Salih is about a young boy’s relationship with his grandfather. They were initially very close, and the boy idolized the old man. In a “coming of age” event, the boy realizes that his grandfather has become rich and powerful by taking advantage of the misfortune of others. The boy feels especially bad for a neighbor who has lost most of his land to his grandfather. His grandfather is determined to own the rest of the land, and is part of a group of moneylenders who take away most of the neighbor’s annual date harvest. More…
Searching for Summer
Published in 1958, ten years into the Cold War, this Jane Aiken story is set in the aftermath of an unstated nuclear event. Massive clouds surround the Earth, blocking out the sun and stars. People crave the sun’s warmth and light, which only penetrate the clouds on rare, short-lived occasions. A newlywed couple set off on their honeymoon in search of one of these “bits of sun”. An act of kindness along the way leads them to more sun and starlight than many people see in their lives. Themes: taking things for granted, consequences of war, kindness, consideration for others. More…
The Law of Life
Jack London‘s The Law of Life tells of the life and impending death of Koskoosh, an old Inuit who was once chief of his tribe but is left by them to die in the snow. Some critics suggest that although Koskoosh is the protagonist, the real hero of the story is an old moose that was too weak to keep up with its herd. Can you see why? Major themes: the inevitability of death (the law of life), survival of the individual (man vs. nature), survival of the tribe (expendability of the old and weak), tradition, courage, acceptance. More…
Another Kind of Life
People whose ancestors are not native to a country often underestimate the spiritual and cultural connection that indigenous inhabitants have to their traditional family lands. This melancholy story from Roderick Finlayson describes the disappointment and disillusionment of a city-based Maori man who takes advantage of a rare weekday off work to visit an uncle still living in his kainga (home village). He comes away with a great sense of loss, not only of his relationship with “home”, but also of his language. Themes: urbanization, connection (to family, land and culture); change (industrialization, land development), loss. More…
After the Ball / Dance
The major themes of this story from Leo Tolstoy are the circumstances that determine “good” and “evil”, and the morality of blaming a child for the actions of his/her father. The protagonist is captivated by a beautiful woman. They attend an elegant ball, where he is impressed by the demeanor of her father, a senior military officer. His feelings change the next morning when he witnesses the father officiating at the brutal punishment of a deserting soldier. Other themes: romance, judging by appearances, point of view (cruelty vs. duty), class, moral indignation vs. naivety. More…
The Goose Father
In this story by Krys Lee, loneliness drives a South Korean gireogi appa (goose father) to take in a tenant after six months’ living alone. The tenant, an enigmatic young man half the landlord’s age, arrives on his doorstep with a goose he believes to be his reincarnated mother. As the mismatched pair get to know each other, sexual tension builds between them. Something unexpected occurs when the landlord finally comes to terms with his sexual inclinations and is about to express his feelings by kissing the younger man. Themes include family, loneliness, sexuality, love, betrayal, guilt, forgiveness, the supernatural. More…
All at One Point
Some time ago we featured Distance of the Moon, the first story in Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics collection. In this, the fourth story, we travel back to before the beginning of time. Everything (and everyone) in the universe existed in a single point in space. Things were rather crowded and people had no chance to move about and meet others. However, everyone knew and loved Mrs. Ph(i)Nk_0, whose wish for enough room to make noodles caused a burst of positive energy that resulted in the “big bang” and universe as we know it today. Theme: the power of selflessness and love. More…
A Mild Attack of Locusts
Doris Lessing’s story about a British farming family in post-World War 2 Africa contrasts the richness and beauty of the land with the destructive power of nature. The major theme is survival: for the locust swarm, through instinct and sheer weight of numbers; for the farmers, through planning, preparation, manpower and, when these fail, being prepared to start over. Other themes: helplessness, devastation, the ongoing cycles of struggle against nature, perseverance. The message of the story lies in the many references to being finished/ruined. This is never certain unless one gives up hope and stops fighting to survive. More…
Kew Gardens
Rather than a unified plot, this Virginia Woolf story describes a series of unrelated events over a few minutes of time. A married couple exchange memories of earlier visits to the gardens; an eccentric old man accompanied by a carer talks nonsense to the flowers; two elderly women break into their small talk to gossip about the old man; an infatuated young couple create their own memories for later visits; a purposeful snail decides on the best path to its destination. Themes: peace and beauty amid turmoil, isolation, memories, regret, aging, romance, gender roles, aimlessness vs. focus and determination. More…
A Horseman in the Sky
This war story from Ambrose Bierce has three main themes: 1) honor and the need to do ones duty; 2) the brutality of any kind of war; and 3) the particularly cruel nature of civil war, which can set friend against friend and family against family. For me, the defining moment in the story is when the enemy soldier turns and seemingly looks into Carter Druse’s eyes. As Carter recognizes his father, does his father also see and recognize him? Could knowing that Carter did his duty explain the proud way the horseman appeared to ‘ride’ through the sky? More…
The Memsahib of Mandla
In this story by Khushwant Singh, nature and the ghost of a woman who founded an Indian missionary school combine to drive a British man and his family from a forest officer’s rest house. The rest house was the woman’s home before it was appropriated by the government, and hasn’t been lived in since she died. In addition to being insensitive and chauvinistic, the husband typifies the stereotype of arrogant, self-serving British officials during the Raj. He decides to shoot the ghost, but things don’t turn out as planned. Themes include colonialism, humanitarianism, loyalty, fear, justice, the supernatural. More…
Battle Royal
This “coming of age story” is the self-contained first chapter of Ralph Ellison’s acclaimed novel, Invisible Man. A young African American is invited to repeat his high school graduation speech, which focused on humility, at a gathering of the town’s leading white citizens. Upon arrival, he learns that he must first participate in a “battle royal”: a depraved, demeaning group fight event. When he finally makes his speech, few people pay any attention until a slip of the tongue changes its tone from humble to activist. Themes include heritage and identity, naiveté, racism, emancipation, class, sexism, violence. More…
Crazy Sunday
This partly autobiographical story from F. Scott Fitzgerald deals with the relationships between an up-and-coming Hollywood screenwriter (Joel), a powerful movie director (Miles), and the director’s wife (Stella). All three suffer major insecurity issues thanks to Hollywood’s toxic, highly competitive culture. Miles is a troubled adulterer; he and Stella look upon Joel as a friend/confidante; Joel has much stronger feelings for Stella. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you look at it), Miles dies before the seemingly inevitable marriage bust-up, and the future of Joel and Stella is left up in the air. Themes include insecurity, jealousy, appearances, romance, infidelity. More…
Little Whale, Varnisher of Reality
Seen as an allegory of aspects of Soviet life (censorship and fear of malevolent authority), this story by Vasily Aksyonov contrasts the stressful life of a father with the blissful world of his three-year-old son. Returning home after a difficult day, the weak-willed man would rather spend time in the fantasy world of the boy, whose imagination makes everything right, than make an important phone call. He dreads the outcome of the call, which appears critical to his family and friends, and keeps putting it off. Themes include childhood innocence vs. adulthood, father-son relationships, fantasy, manipulation of reality, fear, procrastination. More…
Father Against Mother
Brazil was the last country in the Western world to abolish slavery. Major themes of this story by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis are the brutality of slavery and the ethical dilemma of the protagonist (a destitute slave catcher whose wife has just had a baby) in returning a pregnant escaped slave to potentially cruel punishment. Literary devices used include understatement (pursuing slaves was … not a very noble profession), sarcasm (They would sometimes be beaten, and not all of them liked being beaten.) and metaphor (That unripe fruit entered the world amid the cries and moans of the mother…). More…
What You Pawn I Will Redeem
In Sherman Alexie’s typical witty style, this story recounts what turns out to be a very special day in the life of a homeless, alcoholic Native American man. The central theme, symbolized by his grandmother’s stolen ceremonial regalia, is the importance of Native Americans being able to preserve and connect with their tribal culture. A second theme is how past injustices and support system failures have resulted in Native Americans having the highest homelessness and poverty rates in the country. Other themes: identity, alcoholism, community, kindness, perseverance, connection. A possible moral: never give up if you really want something. More…
The Love of My Life
This T. C. Boyle story holds a powerful message for teenagers in their first serious relationship. All too often, young lovers mistake the closeness that comes with shared sexual awakening for long-term, enduring love. The truth remains hidden until the relationship is tested in some way, in this case with an unplanned pregnancy. Initially, readers admire the young couple for the strength of their affection towards each other. Disappointment begins with the girl’s selfish indecision about the pregnancy, quickly followed by disgust at the couple’s terrible treatment of the new-born baby and willingness to blame each other for what happens. More…