In this story by Witthayakon Chiangkun, a busload of enthusiastic Bangkok college students descend upon an isolated, poverty-stricken rice farming village as part of a 1960s national community development program. Despite their best efforts, differences in speech, dress and perceived social class make integration difficult. They have been sent during their school vacation to build a Community Hall, something the contented villagers neither asked for or need. Apart from the narrator, a young teen, the Hall’s only users are water-buffaloes seeking shelter from the sun. Themes include identity, innocence, city vs. country cultural divide, politicization, benevolence, bureaucratic disconnection. More…
The Yellow Wallpaper
This partly autobiographical story by Charlotte Gilman describes the experiences of a creative, imaginative woman suffering from post-natal depression. She follows the then (1890s) generally accepted medical advice to spend her time “resting” in semi-isolation. Gilman skillfully uses the setting to turn an otherwise clinical account of a mental breakdown into a chilling psychological horror story. Although living in a colonial mansion amid idyllic countryside, the poor woman spends most of her time in a prison-like room with creepy wallpaper. Major themes include the fallibility of doctors and our reluctance to question them, mental illness, freedom and self-expression, and gender roles in society. More…
The Coffee-house of Surat
In this story from Leo Tolstoy, customers in an Indian coffeehouse overhear a disillusioned religious scholar questioning his servant about the existence of God. This sparks a debate about which religion is God’s favorite. Arguments are put forward supporting most of the mainstream European and Asian religions of the day, as well as some unusual ones like idolatry and fire-walking. The answer (that God is not exclusive to any one system of beliefs) is provided in an allegorical tale from a Confucian scholar about a debate over the existence and path of the sun. Themes: diversity, bigotry, intolerance, religious pluralism. More…
Three Thanksgivings
In this story by Charlotte Gilman, a widow faces pressure from three sides. Her married children want her to come and live with them, and the man who holds a mortgage over her large family home wants to marry her. She doesn’t want to move or remarry, doesn’t have the means to repay the mortgage, and has three Thanksgivings to make a decision or find the money. In helping five hundred other women, she builds a new life and solves the problem. Themes include gender expectations, financial independence, self-sufficiency, entrepreneurship, community.
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Three Girls
In this story by Joyce Carol Oates a woman recalls when, as a college student, she and a fellow girl-poet encountered a woman they believed to be a heavily disguised Marilyn Monroe browsing in a used bookstore. Torn between acknowledging the woman and protecting her privacy, they choose the latter. “Marilyn” gives them a book as a memento and leaves. For the girls, who are coming to grips with their sexuality and mutual attraction against social norms of the time, the shared experience triggers a first kiss. Themes include identity, gender norms, sexuality, passion, courage, stereotypes. More…