Today we are featuring a story from the great Agatha Christie. Unusually for a detective story, it involves an investigation into a murder that is yet to be committed. Hercule Poirot makes a surprise visit to an old friend and asks him to help prevent the murder. When told that the plot involves a friend of the man who has reason to hate him, he refuses to believe Poirot. Thanks to some very unlikely coincidences and skills learned from a grateful pickpocket, Poirot prevents both the murder and a suicide. Themes: friendship, rivalry, hatred, revenge, redemption, xenophobia. More…
The Gilded Six-Bits
The popular interpretation of this story by Zora Neale Hurston is that two young newlyweds (Joe and Missie May) have what appears to be a perfect marriage until a boastful newcomer from Chicago (Otis) opens an ice-cream parlor in their small Southern town. The couple’s playful, passionate bliss is shattered when Otis, who appears wealthy and sophisticated, seduces Missie May in exchange for promises of gold. In most short stories, this would lead to a tragic ending. Not here! The couple come out of it seemingly happier than ever. Themes: poverty, love, deception (appearances vs. reality), temptation, betrayal, guilt, forgiveness. More…
In Another Country
Set during World War 1, the major theme of his story by Ernest Hemingway is courage: courage to face an enemy in war, and courage to try to rebuild one’s life after being badly injured or suffering a major setback. A wounded American, thought to be Hemingway’s alter ego Nick Adams, visits a Milan hospital every day for exercises to rehabilitate a wounded knee. He shares his fears about returning to the front, and his relationship and experiences with five Italian soldiers undergoing treatment. Other themes: dealing with disability and loss, fear of death, camaraderie, dignity vs. bravado, alienation, loneliness. More…
The Woman Who Came at Six O’Clock
The central theme of this early Gabriel Garcia Márquez story is perception of others. ‘Queen’, the six o’clock regular in José’s restaurant, is a prostitute. Queen’s customers see her as a sex object, to be used and sometimes abused. The police see her as an alcoholic miscreant who cannot be trusted. José, who professes platonic love for Queen, sees the vulnerable human being within. Queen, who claims to be disgusted by all men, sees the caring, kind-hearted José only as someone to be taken advantage of. Other themes: habit, murder, naïveté vs. worldliness, misunderstanding, reputation. More…
The Eatonville Anthology
Rather than a single story, Zora Neale Hurston’s Eatonville Anthology is a series of vignettes and anecdotes about life in a small African-American community outside Orlando, Florida in the early 1920s. Eatonville was Hurston’s hometown, and the power of her anthology is that each story is based on either real people and events or local folklore. This and the use of authentic dialect capture the local color and folksy spirit of the town, and highlight an important theme: the traditional role of storytelling in preserving cultural heritage. Other themes: community, connection, change. More…