In this story by Kamala Das, an Indian woman angrily scolds her husband, a lazy drunkard, as she tells a fellow beggar how a year earlier he lost a secure job and caused them to be evicted from their hut. As the aging woman complains about her lot, the listener brings her to tears. He poetically extols the benefits of living in the open beside the sea, provides encouragement that things will improve, speaks to her of music and artistry, and likens her to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. Themes include marriage (loyalty, jealousy, control and complacency), poverty, negativity, dreams, generosity. More…
Homecoming
This story by Carlos Bulosan highlights one of the terrible side effects of the mass immigration of Filipino men and boys to America in the first half of last Century. In the story, a young man who had immigrated at fifteen returns home after twelve years. Following a tearful reunion, he is devastated to learn the family is destitute. His father is dead, his mother too frail to get around, and one of his sisters has had to prostitute herself. Even worse, there is nothing he can do to help! Themes include failure, reunion, poverty, desperation, despair, shame. More…
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Flannery O’Connor is a master at coming up with stories in which almost every main character has some kind of flaw. It is hard to like any of this dysfunctional family of six (except maybe the baby) as they cruise down Highway 441. When their car overturns beside a deserted road, they attract the attention of a crazed killer who calls himself “The Misfit”. As the rest of the family are murdered around her, the grandmother tries to convince the Misfit that deep inside he is one of those hard to find men. Themes: prejudice, deception, violence, religion, “goodness”, redemption More…
The Goodness of Matt Kaizer
This story from Edward Wortis (aka Avi) is about “the baddest” member of a small group of troublesome sixth graders. Matt is constantly trying to prove how bad he is by taking on dares. His father, a church minister, does not seem greatly concerned by this in the belief that one day Matt will change. A dare that goes horribly wrong (or right depending how you look at it) proves his father correct. Themes: peer pressure, pride, good vs. evil, forgiveness. The story’s message: nobody is born bad; there is the potential for goodness in everyone. More…
Boys and Girls
The major themes of this story by Alice Munro are coming of age and gender roles. Set on a Canadian fox farm, a young tomboy prefers to spend her time outdoors with her father rather than indoors helping her mother. When she overhears her mother talking about how happy she will be when the girl is older and can help more around the house, she feels betrayed. Her outlook slowly changes as she gets older, culminating in a rebellious act that her father dismisses with the words She’s only a girl. Other themes: family relationships, loss of innocence, self-awareness. More…