This heavily poetic steam of conscience narrative by Jayne Anne Phillips is not an easy read. Bouncing backwards and forwards in time, a former rapist and now imprisoned drug dealer recalls his obsessive love for and unpredictable, often violent relationship with, his unconventional “boyish” girlfriend. The drugs were pedaled in the seedy movie theatre in which she worked, and it unclear whether she, their “brotherly” hunch-backed supplier, or even the old theatre owner she was “in good with”, set him up. Themes include love, alienation, jealousy, violence, drug dealing and abuse, betrayal. More…
The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse
This story by William Saroyan describes a nine-year-old boy’s short encounters with a beautiful white horse ‘borrowed’ without permission by an older cousin. The boy’s family is part of an impoverished Armenian farming community living in the United States after being displaced from their homeland. The tribe to which the family belongs is renowned for the honesty and integrity of its members and, as might be expected, these are central themes of the story. Other themes include the refugee experience, temptation in the face of poverty, family values (reputation) vs. desire, rationalizing inappropriate behaviour, compassion, conscience. More…
The Pardon of Becky Day
A motif of this classic Western by John Fox, Jr. could well be the scheming nature of women. A neighbor misled the community as to Becky’s virtue to win her boyfriend Jim’s heart; both women manipulate the men around them to maintain their “honor”; a missionary uses the threat of a deathbed curse to force the reluctant neighbor to seek Becky’s forgiveness; and, based on the smile on Becky’s face when she dies, her words of forgiveness may have been feigned to make sure that she will “git thar” [where Jim is] first. Themes: deception, hate, lawless violence, forgiveness, superstition. More…
Stories of the Bad & Good Little Boys
We are presenting these stories from Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) together because, although the characters appear to be opposites, they actually support the same themes: 1) all people have a bad and/or selfish side; and 2) whether good or bad, people don’t always get the reward/punishment they deserve. While the bad boy appears inherently evil, the “good” boy’s motivation is his selfish wish for eternal praise. With its over-the-top sarcasm, the story of the bad little boy has an even more depressing message… bad boys grow into bad men, and the worst of them end up becoming successful politicians! More…
The Five-Forty-Eight
This story by John Cheever puts into perspective the plight of women in the workplace before the terms sexual harassment and unfair dismissal were coined. A disdainful, misogynistic businessman takes advantage of the attentions and weakness of a new secretary, then immediately has her fired. Six months later the woman, who appears mentally unstable, confronts him with a gun and avenges herself by humiliating the vile man. Sadly, although the woman’s actions may have helped her in regaining her self-respect, they seem to have little effect on the man. Themes include alienation/isolation, family, power, narcissism, misogyny, sexuality, revenge, mental illness. More…