The themes of this distressing story from Alice Munro are being different, isolation, bullying, connection and betrayal. Myra’s family looks and dresses differently. At school, her introverted younger brother needs her constant support and protection. The other children in her class (always in groups of course!) ridicule her. For most of them, feigned acceptance comes when Myra is hospitalized with leukemia and it becomes fashionable to be seen to care. Sadly, a brief period of connection with the narrator ends with a decision to discard what may have been Myra’s last ever gift More…
A Shocking Accident
Graham Greene’s short stories span many genres, from the serious to the farcical. In this comedy, a boy rationalizes his widowed father’s long absences from home by convincing himself that he is a mysterious adventurer. In reality, his father is a restless author whose unlikely death in an Italian “street accident” becomes an embarrassment the lad must carry into adulthood. Things change when he falls in love with a woman who shares a similar concern for the fate of animals. Themes: father-son relationships, perception, the unpredictability of life/death, communicating bad news, fear of ridicule. More…
The Ultimate Safari
Set during the Mozambican Civil War, this story from Nadine Gordimer follows a family as they undertake an arduous journey to a South African refugee camp through Kruger Park. The story is told through the eyes of a nine year-old girl who understands little about the war other than that her father is away fighting for the government. Following her mother’s disappearance while buying cooking oil, the rest of her family join a group of other displaced villagers for the dangerous 40-mile (65 km) trek through the park. Themes include family, war, loss, lawlessness, displacement, fear, endurance, hope. More…
Babycakes
Although written for a worthy cause (PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), many readers find this satirical vignette by Neil Gaiman very disturbing. The story provides a modern take on Jonathan Swift’s infamous 1729 satirical essay A Modest Proposal, which advocated solving an Irish famine by having the very poor sell their babies to the rich: A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled… OMG! Themes include greed, animal cruelty, sustainability, hubris (the superiority of man). More…
The Revolt of “Mother”
This Mary E. Wilkins Freeman story is an early example of American literary feminism. When Adoniram, an insensitive, authoritarian farmer decides to build a barn on the site of a promised new house and refuses to discuss the issue, his long-suffering wife takes a stand. Sarah, the hard-working and devoted “Mother”, sees his need to spend a few days away as a sign from God. Much to the surprise and amusement of the local community, she goes about turning the new barn into a home. Themes: gender roles/repression (male domination), insincerity (false promises), spirituality, rebellion. More…