Mulk Raj Anand’s The Lost Child can be looked at on two levels. At its most basic, it is about a boy who gets so carried away by the excitement of a fair that he becomes separated from his parents. Alone in the arms of a kind stranger, all he wants is to be reunited with his mother and father. On another level, it is a story of life. When young, we can’t wait to leave home and make our way in the world. It is not until we lose our parents that we understand how important they really are. More…
Storyteller
This story by Leslie Marmon Silko retraces the life of a Yupic Eskimo woman up to the point she is jailed for murder. The story deals with the effects of “Gussick” (American) miners and traders on traditional village life, the way the village community supports her family of eccentric outcasts, how her sexual molestation by her grandmother’s partner drives her into the arms of American miners, and her quest for retribution against a Gussick storekeeper who sold poisoned liquor to her parents. Themes include cultural loss, exploitation, alienation, community, revenge, and storytelling. More…
Now That April’s Here
This story by Morley Callaghan is a bitter-sweet satire of the “lost generation”, a group of American expatriate writers living in Paris during the 1920s. Two men, obviously lovers, travel to France because America had nothing to offer them. One has a small income, the other is an aspiring writer. They appear to thrive in the local café society, constantly snickering over people they meet. All is well until they offer shared accommodation to a promiscuous young woman who shares her pleasures with them in return. Themes include disenchantment, search for fulfillment, sexuality, dependence, hedonism, jealousy, abandonment. More…
Long Walk to Forever
Kurt Vonnegut described this semi-autobiographical tale, written in honor of his wife, as a sickeningly slick love story. A satire of the “love at first sight” romance cliché, it describes how, after a platonic friendship of almost twenty years, a single expression of love and two kisses is all it takes for Catharine to question her plans to marry another man and fall into Newt’s arms. Themes include communication (failure to express/discuss their feelings sooner), taking people for granted (Newt didn’t appreciate how much Catharine meant to him until almost losing her!), and fighting for what is important in life. More…
A Distant Episode
In 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. More…