Jack Agüeros cleverly uses a game of dominoes to illustrate two common themes affecting Puerto Rican immigrants living in the United States: fate vs. free will, and the Latin American concept of machismo. Fate is mirrored by the game and its outcome. Is it over as soon as you get your hand, as Tito says, or a game of skill where you can influence the result? Machismo (being seen as a man among men) introduces several sub-themes: pride, patronization of women, competitiveness, protection of honor, success with women, insecurity, and the ever-present prospect of violence. More…
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
A major theme of this story by James Thurber is escapism (in this case taking charge of one’s life through fantasy). Walter Mitty, a meek, blundering man who leads a mundane suburban life is perhaps the world’s best-known daydreamer. Constantly humiliated by his dominating, nagging wife and others he encounters in the community, his way of compensating is to escape into exciting, imaginary worlds. There, he acts out fantasies in which he is the opposite of his real self, performing wondrous feats and bravely facing all kinds of danger. Other themes: identity, self-respect, masculinity, gender roles. More…
Prayer for the Living
This story by Ben Okri highlights the suffering of innocent civilians caught up in regional conflicts. Set during the Nigerian Civil War when a government blockade of the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra resulted in mass starvation, a man who hasn’t eaten for three weeks walks among corpses scattered in an unnamed town. He has come to the grim conclusion that the dead seem happier and more alive than the living. His purpose… to make sure that his family and lover are dead before finding “happiness” himself. Themes include the horrors of war, corruption/ethnic rivalry, suffering, acceptance, death as relief. More…
Priscilla and the Wimps
In addition to this being Richard Peck’s first young adult story, it is one of his most popular. This is undoubtedly because it not only follows the age-old success formula of a victorious underdog, but does so in the context of humiliating a school bully. Another plus is that the denouement is left to the reader’s imagination. Does Pricilla come back later in the day to release Monk? Do her or Melvin’s parents phone the school and arrange for the locker to be opened? Or do they come back in a week’s time and find that Monk is an ice-block? More…
Gorilla, My Love
Hazel, the protagonist in this Toni Cade Bambara story, is a feisty African-American girl growing up in New York City. Its major theme, truth and honesty, is conveyed through Hazel’s anger over two events: a misrepresented movie title and an offhand promise made to pacify her as a child. Her initial reaction to the first (demanding a refund) demonstrates growing maturity. Her emotional reaction to the second (tears) indicates she hasn’t quite got there. Given Hazel’s angry (criminal) response when refused the refund, one feels sorry for poor Hunca Bubba! Other themes: family, racism, deceit, anger, protest, betrayal. More…