Gina Berriault’s protagonist is a struggling young actress who has just begun a day job as a social worker in the women’s ward of a city hospital. With no qualifications or experience, she finds it hard to maintain clinical detachment and begins to identify with the suffering, often troubled women in the ward. She reflects on turning points in her own life, and concludes that women are shaped by the beds (a metaphor for common life experiences) they have chosen, or someone else has chosen for them, to lie in. Themes: empathy, choice vs. superstition/destiny, identity, aloneness, connection. More…
The Sniper
Some argue that civil wars are the worst form of warfare because they can set friend against friend and family against family. This story by Liam O’Flaherty takes place during the Irish Civil War of 1922/23. After an IRA sniper with the cold gleam of the fanatic in his eyes kills an enemy sniper, he goes to see if he knew the man. It is tempting to feel sorry as he turns over the body. That is until you remember the unarmed woman he had just shot in cold blood. Themes include war, divisiveness, duty, survival, isolation, brutality, guilt. More…
Fleur
This story by Louise Edrich incorporates elements of magical realism and Chippewa Indian mythology. It recounts the experiences of Fleur, a Native-American woman who leaves her tribe after several mystical experiences to work in a small-town butchery. Fleur is not only strong, independent and confident, but has seemingly magical powers that, among other things, help her consistently win money from her male co-workers in after-work card games. This damages the men’s egos, leading to her brutal rape and the “accidental” death of her three abusers. Themes: female power, sexuality and mystique; racism; gender and cultural conflicts; violence. More…
Menagerie, a Child’s Fable
Like George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Charles Johnson’s confronting allegorical fable about animals left to fend for themselves in a locked pet shop is not for children. Some see the story as a religious allegory for the consequences (chaos and hell fire) of losing faith in God (Tilford) and listening to the devil (the monkey). Another interpretation is as a political allegory for the anarchy that can arise after a breakdown of authority and the rule of law, much like modern day (2024) Haiti. Themes include oppression, freedom and democracy, pluralism vs. racism, lawlessness and power (greed, violence, murder and rape). More…
Identities
In this story from W. D. Valgardson, the smell of burning leaves on a Saturday morning evokes pleasant memories for a man of childhood drives in the countryside. With his family otherwise occupied, he decides to leave his up-market neighborhood and re-live the experience. Unfortunately, the open spaces of his youth have been replaced by urban sprawl. Late in the day, he finds himself lost in a seedy, seemingly dangerous neighborhood. A stop to call home and warn his family that he will be late for dinner is the last act in his life. Themes: nostalgia, appearance, prejudice, stereotyping, misjudgement. More…