Featured Stories

Javni

Javni: Short story by Raja RaoRaja Rao’s Javni highlights the inequity of India’s caste system and how it is so interlinked with religious beliefs that most of those affected accept their lot without question. (A Brahmin is not meant to work. You are the “chosen ones”… you are the twice-born. We are your servants — your slaves.) Javni, a devout servant, accepts the exploitation and indignities suffered at the hands of her employer as a normal aspect of working life. Sadly, being a widow, the poor woman faces even greater cruelty from her family and fellow villagers. Themes: compassion, innocence, religion, fate, superstition, cruelty, sacrifice, love.

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What the Old Man Does is Always Right

What the Old Man Does is Always Right: Danish folktale from Hans Christian AndersenThis story by Hans Christian Andersen is about an old man and his loving wife who never sees a problem with anything he does. The only thing they own of any value is a horse, which they decide to sell or trade for something more useful. The man sets off for town and, after several trades along the way, comes home with a bag of rotten apples. As always, his wife was delighted with the result. Andersen called this story one of his best ever tales… but was it really his work?

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What I Have Been Doing Lately

What I Have Been Doing Lately: Short story by Jamaica KincaidThis circular narrative by Jamaica Kincaid takes the form of a dream in which the narrator, woken by her doorbell and finding no one there, embarks upon a surreal journey. An interesting aspect of the story is that although delivered in the first person, the narrator’s identity is neither given nor defined. When asked the titular question by an unknown woman, she gives a slightly different version of the journey so far, suggesting either personal growth (greater awareness), or that she has experienced multiple iterations of the journey. Themes include reality vs. fantasy, loss and longing, motherhood, personal growth, identity.

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On the Rainy River

On the Rainy River: Short story by Tim O'BrienThe major themes of this “memoir” by Tim O’Brien are shame and guilt. Its purpose is to mitigate the trauma of events twenty years earlier when, as a twenty-one-year-old, the writer was drafted to fight in Vietnam. Ironically, he feels both emotions: 1) for his initial decision to flee America to avoid fighting in a war he didn’t believe in; and 2) for putting his convictions aside, going to war, and things he did and/or was exposed to during the conflict. Other themes: moral confusion, civic duty, fear (embarrassment/social stigma vs. injury or death), connection, courage and cowardice.

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Eleven

Eleven: Short story by Sandra CisnerosThis children’s story by Sandra Cisneros was initially rejected because the publisher thought the themes were too deep for children. It has since become one of the most widely taught stories in Elementary Schools. A misunderstanding at school over an ugly red sweater spoils a girl’s eleventh birthday. Her teacher is convinced the sweater is the girl’s and demands that she put in on. The girl does so but then breaks down in tears, embarrassing herself in front of the class. This is a “coming of age” story that deals with the difficult concepts of vanity and timidity.

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Looking for Mr. Green

Looking for Mr. Green: Novelette by Saul BellowA major theme of this story by Saul Bellow is work ethic. Times are tough in 1930s Chicago. An intellectual white man starts a much-needed job delivering unclaimed welfare checks to people in a depressed black neighborhood. On his first day his younger supervisor implies that, as a city worker, he isn’t expected to “push too hard”. That’s not the way he works: he wants to do well for doing-well’s sake, and goes above and beyond in a quest to find the elusive Mr. Green. Other themes include poverty, race, suspicion, duty, tenacity, identity.

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Counterfeit Bills

Counterfeit Bills: Short story by Richard MathesonRichard Matheson is renowned for his novels and traditional short stories in the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres. This is one of his few published flash stories, and the fact that it is a spoof of the science fiction cloning model makes it especially interesting. The story is based on the premise of how nice it would be to have a ‘double’ to carry out all the mundane tasks in your life, so you could spend all your time going out and having fun. Despite (or perhaps thanks to) the corny puns, it is a very enjoyable Quick Read.

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Poonek

Poonek: Short story by Lim Beng HapIn this story by Lim Beng Hap, a young man returns to his riverside village in Sarawak after ten years absence at school. The only thing that has changed is that a girl who had been his constant childhood companion has grown into a beautiful woman. When the girl’s father offers her to the young man in marriage, he initially declines. The belief among his people is that refusing such an offer makes him Poonek (likely to suffer a disaster), and he soon has a warning encounter with a crocodile. Themes include tradition, superstition, patriarchy, love.

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