In Sherman Alexie’s typical witty style, this story recounts what turns out to be a very special day in the life of a homeless, alcoholic Native American man. The central theme, symbolized by his grandmother’s stolen ceremonial regalia, is the importance of Native Americans being able to preserve and connect with their tribal culture. A second theme is how past injustices and support system failures have resulted in Native Americans having the highest homelessness and poverty rates in the country. Other themes: identity, alcoholism, community, kindness, perseverance, connection. A possible moral: never give up if you really want something. More…
The Perfect Murder
In this story with an unlikely twist by Jeffrey Archer, a married man strikes his mistress and storms out of her house after catching her with another man. The next day, he learns she died during the night. He has three options: 1) to do nothing and live in fear that the police investigation will connect him to her; 2) to contact the police and claim that her death was an accident; and 3) to frame the other lover for her murder. He chooses the latter, and closely follows the innocent man’s trial. Themes include infidelity, violence, guilt, fear, injustice. More…
Don’t Look Now
This Daphne du Maurier story opens with a British couple dining in Venice. The holiday, through which they hope to rebuild their relationship following the death of their young daughter, takes an eerie turn when a fellow diner claims to be able to “see” the spirit of the dead girl sitting between them, and issues a grim warning that they should leave Venice immediately. When a family emergency calls them back home later that day, they take this as the meaning of the warning. The wife leaves the next morning; the husband never does. Themes: grief, the supernatural, scepticism, suspicion/paranoia. More…
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
This almost clinical account of Tadeusz Borowski’s holocaust experiences explores an often overlooked aspect of the so-called “final solution”: how general prisoners forced to assist in sending the condemned to gas chambers became so desensitized to the brutality that many actively participated in it. Because of their access to discarded food and clothing, these men formed the “elite” among the prisoner hierarchy. In camp, their insensitivity to suffering prevailed and many looked down on and showed little compassion for the plight of “less fortunate” fellow inmates. Themes: man’s inhumanity to man, death and suffering, the survival instinct, detachment, guilt, rationalization. More…
Railroad Standard Time
Major themes of this semi-autobiographical story by Frank Chin are time (symbolized by an inherited pocket watch that keeps Railroad Standard Time), the clash between traditional Chinese and ‘modern’ American culture, and the need to move away from long-held stereotypes of Chinese-American men and women. Ironically for a story that focuses on time, the plot does not proceed linearly. As the narrator drives to and from his mother’s funeral, the story moves from memories of the past to the present and then back again, with the watch providing a connection between them. Other themes: nostalgia, family, cultural heritage, identity, masculinity. More…