Featured Stories

Araby

Araby: Short story by James JoyceIt is tempting to think the central theme of this story by James Joyce is an adolescent boy’s infatuation with a friend’s older sister. However, the title gives it away. The main theme, brought about by the boy’s wish to impress the girl, is his obsession with visiting the Grand Oriental Fete (Araby). The story helps us vicariously re-live our own Arabies. Whether it be a relationship, work opportunity or important event, we all have experiences where something much looked forward to greatly disappoints. We know how the boy feels! We know how the boy feels! Other themes: alienation, loneliness, religion, vanity, disillusionment.

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Smell / Bu

Smell / Bu: Short story by Saadat Hasan MantoIn this story by Saadat Hasan Manto, a refined Indian man sees a factory worker sheltering under a tree outside his apartment during a rainstorm. He invites her up to dry off and, consensual or otherwise, they have sex. As she spends the night he notices that every part of her body emits an at once foul and sweet-smelling odour. This enchants him so much that sex with other women, including the henna-smelling upper-class wife he marries years later, is less satisfying. Themes include social class/ethnicity, exploitation (rape?), promiscuity, sensuality, smell as an agent for memory and desire.

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Last Courtesies

Last Courtesies: Short story by Ella LefflandThis story by Ella Leffland contrasts the way the protagonist, a widow in her late fifties, handles life’s challenges with the approaches taken by her dignified, “old-fashioned” aunt and an eccentric, sometimes mentally unstable friend of her aunt who has appointed himself her “protector”. Unable to cope with noisy neighbors and daily problems following the death of her aunt and long-time companion, the woman suffers a nervous breakdown. After an argument with her “protector”, she falls prey to a vicious serial killer. Themes include alienation and isolation, eccentricity, judgement, passivity vs. assertiveness, rudeness vs. civility, fear, violence.

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A Country Doctor

A Country Doctor: Short story by Franz KafkaIn this dream-like story by Franz Kafka, a country doctor experiences an existential crisis when his response to a call for help during a severe snowstorm sets off a surreal chain of events. The doctor’s horse has died, and a mystery groom who appears out of his pigsty with two unearthly horses rapes his housemaid as he leaves. When it becomes clear that the patient’s wound is incurable, the doctor is stripped naked in a pagan ritual and laid beside the dying man. Themes include isolation, duty, powerlessness, inner conflict, existentialism, loss of faith (in himself and his profession).

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The Alienist

The Alienist: Novella by Joaquim Maria Machado de AssisIn this satirical novella by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, a brilliant physician relocates to his hometown in Brazil and convinces the council to build the region’s first madhouse. Rebellion stirs when, having incarcerated all the truly insane, the overzealous doctor begins to lock up townspeople who are eccentric or unusually talented. As the number of inmates reaches 80% of the population, the doctor decides upon a new definition of madness. Everyone is released, new townspeople are taken in and treated, until eventually only one “madman” remains. Themes insanity, ambition, scientific fallibility, abuse of power, self-serving politics, revolution and counter-revolution.

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The Circuit

The Circuit: Short story by Francisco JiménezThis is a chapter from the The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, a collection of autobiographical short stories by Francisco Jiménez. The title refers to the way many migrant laborers move from place to place over a year in search of seasonal farm work. For the children of this close-knit family, this means poor living conditions, never being in one place long enough to have permanent friends, working in the fields when old enough, and limited opportunities to attend school. Themes include family, poverty, perseverance, impermanence, loneliness, language and communication, child labor, lack of educational opportunities.

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One Friday Morning

One Friday Morning: Short story by Langston HughesThis Langston Hughes story introduces an often-overlooked element of the American racial debate. A community committee reverses a decision to award an arts scholarship to a promising high-school senior when they learn that she is colored. Her art teacher, who is of Irish descent, describes the discrimination and violence suffered by her people when they first arrived in the country. Although the girl didn’t win the award, she emerges from the experience stronger and even more determined to succeed. Themes: equality, the American Dream (defined in the story as liberty and justice for all), racial discrimination, injustice, resilience, determination, hope.

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The Luck of Roaring Camp

The Luck of Roaring Camp: Short story by Bret HarteIn this story by Bret Harte, strange things happen when a Californian gold prospecting camp “adopts” an orphaned baby born to its only woman resident, the camp prostitute. The birth brings a streak of good fortune to the camp, resulting in the baby being named Thomas Luck. The Luck’s presence inspires the men to clean up the camp, their habits, and themselves. The camp prospers, and there is even talk of encouraging families to move there for the sake of the child. Unfortunately, the Luck’s luck cannot defeat nature. Themes: isolation, lawlessness, community, change/redemption, the inconstancy of luck.

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