A major theme of this Herman Bosman story is the importance of tradition, myth and storytelling in the lives of Boer settlers. The narrator begins by asserting that everyone in the Marico knows that juba-berry juice can make a woman fall in love with a man. He then relates a tongue-in-cheek story of how he once “helped” a shy policeman use the juice to win a girl’s heart. The ambiguous ending leaves it unclear whether the potion really worked. Other themes: love, fear of rejection, superstition/magic vs. reality, morality (lack of respect for the girl and her right to decide). More…
Recitatif
This story by Toni Morrison explores the relationship between two women of different race who meet as eight-year-olds in a children’s shelter and become reacquainted at several points in the future. In addition to conflicts that arise as their lives move in different directions, both remain haunted by recollections of the ill-treatment received by a disabled kitchen-hand who worked at the shelter. An unusual aspect of the story is that although a major theme is racism, we never learn the ethnicity of the two women. Other themes: friendship, alienation, prejudice, disability, parenting, memory. More…
Stone Mattress
From the opening line of this Margaret Atwood story (At the outset Verna had not intended to kill anyone), we know someone will die. An woman who has become wealthy by helping four elderly husbands depart not only happy but grateful, if a little sooner than might have been expected, treats herself to an arctic cruise. Everything changes at the pre-cruise meet-and-greet, when she recognizes a man who had brutally raped her fifty years earlier. He doesn’t recognize her, and she begins to plot the perfect murder. Themes include rape, self-righteousness, resilience, seduction and manipulation, anger, violence, revenge, aging. More…
Shhhh
In this story by NoViolet Bulawayo, a Zimbabwean girl is full of hatred when her father returns home terminally ill after years of no contact or family support. He is totally helpless and, because of his condition (AIDS), her mother forbids her to tell anyone he is back. There are few secrets in an African slum and, when her friends insist on seeing him, she fears they will treat him cruelly. To her surprise, they are respectful, gentle and caring, which begins to turn her feelings around. Themes include abandonment, hatred, fatal illness (AIDS), shame, secrecy, compassion, religion, church greed/corruption. More…
Shadows
This Richard Peck story leaves readers with a question. A lonely child grows up in an old Louisiana plantation-house that she believes to be haunted. On turning five, she befriends the shabbily dressed spirit of a boy (Seth) that not only can talk, but also wants to learn reading, writing and basic arithmetic. As school and real friends take up more of the girl’s time, Seth stops visiting. He makes one final appearance as she prepares to leave for college, leaving her puzzled and very confused. Themes: loneliness, friendship, coming of age, alienation, literacy, the supernatural. More…