Raymond’s Run by Toni Cade Bambara is about a feisty school girl nick-named ‘Squeaky’ who helps take care of Raymond, her mentally challenged older brother. Squeaky is a very talented runner. She trains hard and desperately wants to win this years’ May Day race to show up an annoying and over-confidant new girl in town. During the race she sees Raymond running along the outside of the track keeping pace with her. She suddenly decides that winning races doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Themes: responsibility (care-giving), identity, independence, alienation, pride, rivalry, personal growth, respect. More…
The End of the Party
Although the 9-year-old twins in this Graham Greene story look the same, they have very different psychological dispositions. The first-born (Peter) is self-confident and has a special connection with his brother. The younger (Francis) has an anxiety disorder that results in unreasoning fear, particularly of the dark. Peter feels what Francis feels, and is fiercely protective of him. Despite their best efforts to avoid it, the two attend a birthday party that will include a game of hide-and-seek in the dark. During the game, a thoughtless act by Peter has tragic results. Themes: innocence, brotherhood, connection, fear, adult insensitivity, death. More…
How to Tell a True War Story
This metafictional story by Tim O’Brien uses observations on a small collection of stories related by soldiers to highlight the difficulty of faithfully communicating one’s wartime experiences. His central argument is that in war it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen and therefore you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself. This leads to the seemingly paradoxical conclusion that in a true war story nothing is ever absolutely true. Themes include the nature of truth in storytelling, memories vs. imagination, the trauma of war, morality. More…
Three Girls
In this story by Joyce Carol Oates a woman recalls when, as a college student, she and a fellow girl-poet encountered a woman they believed to be a heavily disguised Marilyn Monroe browsing in a used bookstore. Torn between acknowledging the woman and protecting her privacy, they choose the latter. “Marilyn” gives them a book as a memento and leaves. For the girls, who are coming to grips with their sexuality and mutual attraction against social norms of the time, the shared experience triggers a first kiss. Themes include identity, gender norms, sexuality, passion, courage, stereotypes. More…
The Story of a Letter
In this semi-autobiographical story by Carlos Bulosan, a letter written in English in need of translation links two themes: 1) The challenges (language barriers, racism, exploitation and mistreatment) faced by illiterate Filipinos who immigrated to America for a better life during the first half of last Century; 2) The harshness and unpredictability, especially for those on the land, of the life they left behind. Sadly, most of their families at home will rarely, if ever, hear from them again. Other themes include family, community, the importance of education, expectations vs. reality, resilience, perseverance. More…