A major theme of this heart-warming 19th Century children’s story from Charles Dickens is what comes after death. Although children today are more likely to have been exposed to the concept of the hereafter than their 1871 counterparts, the story is still used as a reading text in many grade schools. In addition to being a beautifully written piece of prose, it contains several other important themes. These include: 1) the wonder and interdependence of the natural world; 2) brother & sisterly love and devotion; 3) the importance of family; and 4) how life can sometimes seem unfair. More…
The Water-Faucet Vision
In this humorous story by Gish Jen, a Chinese-American woman whose mother recently passed away reflects on a brief period in her childhood when her mother somehow fell out of their bedroom window. At the time of the fall she was a fifth grader in a Catholic school, obsessed with the idea of becoming a martyr and performing miracles. When her precious comfort beads fall through a drainage grate in the road, she wakes to a “vision” telling her how to recover them. Themes include religious belief, marital conflict, family, friendship, loss. More…
The Year of Spaghetti
This story by Haruki Murakami describes how a reclusive man made 1971 his “year of Spaghetti”. After buying the necessary equipment and ingredients, he set out to cook spaghetti every day of the year. He cooked spaghetti to live and lived to cook spaghetti, comparing it to an act of revenge against his fears and feelings of meaningless isolation. Although he always eats alone, he often imagines someone standing outside about to visit. When his peace is shattered by a desperate phone call from an ex-friend’s ex-girlfriend, he declines to get involved. Themes include loneliness, self-alienation, obsession, futility. More…
Gusev
This Anton Chekhov story contrasts the attitudes towards social injustice of two Russian soldiers returning home by ship after serving in the Far East. Both are dying of tuberculosis, and neither survives the voyage. One (Gusev) is an uneducated, superstitious peasant who passively accepts his lot. The other (Pavel Ivanovich) is a bitter, fallen intellectual who looks down on “lesser” men and claims to actively oppose the Russian social system. Themes include social class, passivity vs. activism, memory and imagination, loneliness and alienation, the inconsequence of human suffering and death in the context of the glory of nature. More…
Scent of Apples
Set during World War 2, this story by Bienvenido Santos explores the cultural displacement experienced by the thousands of Filipino men who emigrated to America in the first half of last Century. For an apple farmer who has lived in America for twenty years, the omnipresent scent of apples is a constant reminder of the difference between the two countries. Surprisingly, despite having a loving American family, he is anxious to know how much Filipino women have changed and can’t help thinking of what might otherwise have been. Themes include family, choices and consequences, cultural identity, alienation, isolation, nostalgia, connection. More…