Gusev

Gusev: Short story by Anton ChekhovThis Anton Chekhov story contrasts the attitudes towards social injustice of two Russian soldiers returning home by ship after serving in the Far East. Both are dying of tuberculosis, and neither survives the voyage. One (Gusev) is an uneducated, superstitious peasant who passively accepts his lot. The other (Pavel Ivanovich) is a bitter, fallen intellectual who looks down on “lesser” men and claims to actively oppose the Russian social system. Themes include social class, passivity vs. activism, memory and imagination, loneliness and alienation, the inconsequence of human suffering and death in the context of the glory of nature.

Continue ReadingGusev

Babylon Revisited

Babylon Revisited: Short story by F. Scott FitzgeraldThe protagonist in this bittersweet story from F. Scott Fitzgerald is in the process of rebuilding his life after losing everything in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market cash. Along with many other Americans caught up in the hedonistic 1920s Paris lifestyle, he had partied hard and drank to excess. When his wife died as he was recovering in a sanitarium, he was forced to give up custody of his then seven-year-old daughter. Two years later, he is determined to win her back. Themes: alcohol abuse and reform, wealth and poverty, fatherly love, self-discipline, alienation, guilt and regret, hope.

Continue ReadingBabylon Revisited

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven: Short story by Sherman AlexieThis story by Sherman Alexie highlights the difficulty tribal Native-Americans have assimilating into American society. A Spokane Indian recalls his breakup with a white kindergarten teacher he loved. Their relationship was one of constant fights and arguments, often over his excessive drinking. Tortured by violent dreams, he returned to the community of the reservation. After several idle months he once again finds work in the outside world, where a call from his ex-girlfriend suggests they still have feelings for one another but are too afraid to pursue them. Themes include community vs. isolation, prejudice, alcohol abuse, love and hatred.

Continue ReadingThe Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Axolotl

Axolotl: Short story by Julio CortázarJulio Cortázar gives away the plot of this story in the first paragraph: There was a time when I thought a great deal about the axolotls… Now I am an axolotl. The rest of the story talks about this Kafkaesque transformation, which is partial and may have only occurred in the protagonist’s mind. He (the axolotl part) sits in an aquarium tank watching himself (the unchanged part) looking in from the other side. Considering his life from this perspective seemingly builds the man’s self-esteem, and he no longer feels the need to return. Themes: loneliness, alienation, obsession, connection, enlightenment, inertia.

Continue ReadingAxolotl

Beyond the Wall of Sleep

Beyond the Wall of Sleep: Short story by H. P. LovecraftIn this story by H. P. Lovecraft, a psychiatric hospital intern discovers that beyond the wall of sleep we exist as a brother of light able to traverse multiple planes and universes. Intrigued by a dying dullard’s dreams about things he couldn’t possibly have experienced or imagined, he uses a telepathic device to read the man’s mind. As the patient dies, he catches a glimpse of these other worlds and meets the man’s majestic other self. The story raises an interesting question: Which of the two states is the true reality? Themes include dreams, alternative reality, death, the supernatural.

Continue ReadingBeyond the Wall of Sleep

Greasy Lake

Greasy Lake: Short story by T. C. BoyleThis coming of age story from T. C. Boyle is about three nineteen-year-old boys who think it is “good to be bad”. It begins on a lighthearted note. The boys try to look and act tough, but cruise the streets in their parents’ station wagons and get their highs from sniffing glue. One night, an innocent prank goes terribly wrong. A case of mistaken identity results in a stranger being beaten unconscious, an attempted rape, discovery of a dead body, and the trashing of a family car. The events prove the danger of pretending to be someone you are not.

Continue ReadingGreasy Lake

The Dog of Tithwal

The Dog of Tithwal: Short story by Saadat Hasan MantoThis story from Saadat Hasan Manto takes place during the first Indo-Pakistan (Kashmir) War, which commenced just two months after the 1947 formation of the two countries. The war was a form of “Mexican standoff”. This is reflected in the plot, where soldiers break their boredom with occasional shots towards the enemy camp that have no chance of hitting anyone. The treatment and killing of Jhun Jhun for “refusing” to take sides is symbolic of the suffering of civilians caught up in the conflict. Themes: natural peace and harmony vs. mankind’s propensity for violence, futility, innocence, distrust, cruelty, human suffering.

Continue ReadingThe Dog of Tithwal

Servant Girl

Servant Girl: Short story by Estrella AlfonIn this story by Estrella Alfon, a hard working Filipino servant girl works for a mistress who is a heavy drinker and often verbally and physically abusive. She rejects a local man who says he loves her, and is infatuated with an “angelic” cochero who once helped her after a fall. After a particularly brutal beating, she runs away to look for the cochero, who she fantasizes is in love with her. She finds him, but he doesn’t remember her. Seeing things more clearly, she returns home. Themes include social class, innocence, workplace abuse, humiliation, perseverance, fantasy, violence, enlightenment.

Continue ReadingServant Girl