A White Heron

A White Heron: Short story by Sarah Orne JewettA major theme of this story from Sarah Orne Jewett is exploitation of nature. A young girl (Sylvia) must choose between much needed money and protecting a rare, beautiful bird. Some see the story as a metaphor for industrialization encroaching upon the pristine Maine woods. The repeated references to “whiteness” (the heron, cow’s milk, Sylvia’s pale skin), symbolize the purity of both the environment and the girl. Other themes: temptation, feminism (the right for Sylvia [women] to live as she chooses and not to serve and follow him [a man] and love him as a dog loves!)

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Blood-Burning Moon

Blood-Burning-Moon: Short story by Jean ToomerSet in the American South during the days of enforced segregation, this story by Jean Toomer involves a love triangle between Louisa, an attractive young African-American woman and two men. Bob (the entitled son a white planter whose slaves were freed and landholdings reduced after the Civil War) picks a fight with his adversary Tom (a poor, quick-tempered black labourer). When Bob pulls a knife, Tom does likewise and kills him. In keeping with the times, Tom is gruesomely executed by a white vigilante mob. Themes: love vs. lust, racism/white supremacy, identity, violence, vigilante justice.

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Monster

Monster: Short story by Catherine LimThe titular Monster in this story by Catherine Lim is an old, rickety, bug-infested bed, treasured by a frail woman in her seventies and despised by her daughter-in-law. Set in highly competitive Singapore, the other monster in the house is generational conflict arising from a fundamental cultural change: a growing lack of respect, understanding and compassion for the aged. Ironically, when the daughter-in-law is finally in a position to destroy the much-hated bed, she learns it may be worth a lot of money! Themes include generational conflict, cultural change (less respect for the aged), sentimentality, materialism, social class.

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A Vermont Tale

A Vermont Tale: Short story by Mark HelprinIn this Mark Helprin story, two children from a distressed marriage are sent to live for a period on their grandparents’ idyllic Vermont farm. One night, they are frightened by the call of two Arctic loons. To calm them and perhaps provide hope about the future, the grandfather tells a tale about two loons. The story is an allegory of his marriage with themes of love, infidelity, separation, despair and reunion. Unfortunately, we learn later that the story’s “happily ever after” ending does not match reality. Themes of the frame story include natural beauty, childhood innocence, appearance vs. reality.

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Train

Train: Short story by Joy WilliamsIn this story by Joy Williams, a sensitive, compassionate girl (Dan) rides a long-distance train with the family of a rude, cynical, self-absorbed friend (Jane). The two ten-year-olds spend much of the time walking through the train interacting with Jane’s argumentative, pretentious parents and other passengers. Dan, who has problems of her own at home, “comes of age” as she realizes the world is not always a happy place, and that Jane is unfit to be her friend. Surprisingly, Jane’s father seems to have a similar opinion of his daughter! Themes include friendship, family dysfunction, conflict, loneliness, epiphany.

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Adam and Eve and Pinch Me

Adam and Eve and Pinch Me: Short story by A. E. CoppardIn one of A. E. Coppard’s more enigmatic stories, a confused man finds himself unable to open the doors in his house or communicate with his three children or servants. The inference is that he is dead and doesn’t know it. Relief comes when he awakens from a daydream with his wife beside him. However, he has a different identity and the third child featured in the dream, who had special powers, has not yet been born. Themes include the convergence of reality and fantasy, death, family, frustration, anger, precognition, identity.

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A Distant Episode

A Distant Episode: Short story by Paul BowlesIn this story by Paul Bowles a Moroccan café worker lures a patronizing Western linguist to a quarry where he is kidnapped by a feared nomadic tribe. He is beaten, has his tongue cut out, and over the next year dehumanized by having to perform clown-like antics to entertain the tribe during their travels. The constant indignity breaks down his reasoning which, despite a moment of awareness when they sell him to another tribe, ends in insanity and a mad rush into the night. Themes include arrogance, cultural naivety, cruelty, dehumanization, (loss of) identity, madness.

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The Postmaster

The Postmaster: Short story by Rabindranath TagoreFor me, the major theme of this Rabindranath Tagore story is the insensitivity towards others under India’s caste system. An inexperienced postal officer from a big city is sent to work in a remote rural village. He lives a lonely, isolated life because class differences and immaturity make it difficult for him to integrate into the local community. His only companion is his housekeeper, a young orphaned girl. The two develop a strong bond, which leaves the devoted girl shattered with her callous treatment when he decides to leave. Other themes: natural beauty, alienation, loneliness, memories, family, companionship, guilt.

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