The Looking-Glass

The Looking Glass: Short story by Anton ChekhovIn this story by Anton Chekhov, a young woman dreams 24/7 about getting married and settling down with the perfect man. One night, while sitting in front of her looking-glass, she has a vision of what the future may hold. She sees the reality of living and raising a family in rural Russia in the late 1800s. The vision encompasses many of Chekhov’s common themes: love, hope, disease, fear, financial struggle, the challenges of parenthood, death and despair. The woman’s cry of Why is it, what is it for? introduces a final theme: disillusionment. Her dream has become a nightmare.

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The Cranes

The Cranes: Short story by Peter MeinkePeter Meinke’s The Cranes is a story about enduring love. Both members of a frail, elderly couple suffer from serious medical issues that have destroyed their quality of life. The woman appears to be the sicker of the two, and may be terminally ill. They reflect on their lives together as they sit in their car near some isolated marshland. As they talk, they observe two aged whooping cranes feeding along the shoreline. These birds, which are long-lived and mate for life, symbolize the couple. As a shot rings out, the cranes soar into the sky.

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Ghosts

Ghosts: Short story by Edwidge DanticatThe ghosts in this Edwidge Danticat story are not the spectral kind. They are chimès… gang members of the Haitian slums. The story takes readers into one of these slums, and provides a glimpse of what life is like for young people growing up inside. It helps explain why young men join the gangs, the problems they face with police brutality and corruption at every level of society, and how the only way out for many is a bullet. Sadly, the problems described are not unique to Haiti. Themes include: social breakdown, gang culture, betrayal, parental love and sacrifice.

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The Eyes Have It / The Girl on the Train

The Eyes Have It / Girl on the Train: Short story by Ruskin BondIn this story by Ruskin Bond, a blind man sitting in an empty train carriage is joined by a young woman. He is attracted by the sound of her voice as she farewells her family, and even the sound of her slippers. As he initiates a conversation, he decides to conceal the fact that he is blind. This extends to pretending to look out the window and describe the passing countryside. He is successful, only to learn after the woman exits the train that she is also blind. Themes include independence, loneliness, desire, self-consciousness, pretence, perception vs. reality.

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A Man Who Had No Eyes

A Man Who Had No Eyes: Short story by MacKinlay KantorIn this story by MacKinlay Kantor, a blind peddler stops a man in the street to sell him a cigarette lighter. The man buys one and, in the hope of getting extra money, the peddler tells him a sob story about how he lost his sight after being held back while trying to escape poison gas released during a factory chemical explosion. The customer points out an error in his story, and how blindness need not be a hindrance to success. Themes include positivity and self-belief vs. denial and self-pity, bitterness, manipulation, deceit, cowardice.

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My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn

Seventh Grade: My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn by Sandra CisnerosMany of Sandra Cisneros’s stories are vignettes (narrative descriptions without a plot). This one provides a snapshot of a young girl’s relationship with her friend Lucy. The two girls identify as Chicanos (USA born Mexican-Americans). Cisneros makes extensive use of Chicano dialect and fragmented sentences to create a realistic atmosphere. The narrator’s tone (feisty) is also typical of Chicano youth. The main theme is, of course, friendship. However, a closer read will reveal deeper themes and emotions beneath the narrator’s bravado. These include ‘aloneness’ (the wish for a large, close family like Lucy’s) and envy for Lucy’s freedom and independence.

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A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: Short story by Gabriel García MárquezThe major themes of this story by Gabriel García Márquez are doubt, cruelty and greed, and common reactions to those who appear strange or “different”. The treatment of the out of sorts angel and “spider girl” evoke genuine pathos and carry allusions to how some countries lock up refugees in miserable conditions and the likes of Joseph Merrick (the deformed gentleman paraded around 19th century England as The Elephant Man). The only uplifting moment comes when the innocent child climbs through a hole in the old man’s cage to play with him. Other themes include suffering, religion and the supernatural.

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Diamond Dust: A Tragedy

Diamond Dust: A Tragedy: Short story by Anita DesaiThis story by Anita Desai uses dark humor to highlight themes of loneliness, pet love, tolerance, alienation, conformity and fulfillment. A puppy of “indecipherable” breed brought home by a conservative Indian public servant causes havoc in his home and neighborhood as it grows into an almost uncontrollable, ferocious badmash. Mr Das, who has a secure job and is seemingly happily married, is clearly missing something in life. Although his obsession with the dog fills this gap and brings about a kind of second childhood, it leads to condemnation and ridicule from his wife and colleagues, and anger from the community.

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The Water of Life

The Water of Life: Short story by Howard PyleThe major themes of this fairy-tale by Howard Pyle are that money and status don’t necessarily reflect the inner man, and loyalty can sometimes bring great rewards. A princess vows to marry whoever brings her a cup of water from the “Fountain of Life”. A young king sends a servant on the long and dangerous journey to collect some, and falsely claims the prize. The doubtful princess sets him two more tasks, one of which requires cutting off the faithful servant’s hand. Thanks to the Water of Life, things end happily for the servant but not so for the king.

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The Eye

The Eye: Short story by Paul BowlesIn this story from Paul Bowles, a long-term expatriate living in Tangier investigates the death of a fellow expatriate he has never met. The man died from an apparent digestive illness, suspected to be the result of gradual poisoning. Rumor among the expatriate community blamed his night watchman, who had both motive (a reported legacy) and opportunity (he had replaced the original cook, purportedly with a relative). The narrator’s investigation suggests that rather than murder, the dead man was the victim of a ritual healing gone wrong. Themes: expatriate lifestyle (paranoia, detachment, idle gossip), isolation, superstition, criminality vs. fate.

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