Foreign Shores

Foreign Shores: Short story by James SalterA feature of this story from James Salter is its ambiguity, starting with the identity of the protagonist. Is it Gloria, the young divorcee who is too caught-up in partying to take proper care of her demanding six-year-old-son? Or is it Truus, her conscientious nineteen-year-old au pair? And although Truss is certainly the erotic focus of the story, does she really develop the morals of a housefly? Alternatively, could she an exploited victim, guilty only of misguided love, or is everything an unfortunate misunderstanding? Themes: sexual grooming / exploitation, appearance, motherhood, condescension, judgmentalism, jealousy, insecurity, emptiness.

Continue ReadingForeign Shores

Hands

Hands: Short story by Sherwood AndersonSherwood Anderson’s Hands was a ground-breaking story for its time. A young teacher is so traumatized by false accusations of child molestation that he flees, changes his identity, and shuts himself off from the world. He is now a frightened loner, with only one friend in the world and a nervous tic in his hands. Themes: mob “justice”, isolation and loneliness, living in fear, embracing one’s dreams. Many people, like the protagonist, express their emotions in a “touchy feely” way. Sadly, even today, such people need to be careful lest this be misinterpreted or maliciously used against them.

Continue ReadingHands

The Possibility of Evil

The Possibility of Evil: Short story by Shirley JacksonThe major theme of this Shirley Jackson story is that appearances can be misleading. A secondary theme, which is particularly relevant these days, is ‘fake news’. Miss Strangeworth, who possibly suffers from OCD, believes that her letters, although based purely on suspicion, are for the good of the community. Her objective may be noble, but many of the thoughts expressed are evil. The story’s message is two-fold: 1) we must be constantly on guard against the “possibility of evil”; and 2) evil is sometimes committed under the guise of seemingly good causes. Other themes: heritage, haughtiness, alienation, community, revenge.

Continue ReadingThe Possibility of Evil

Aquifer

Aquifer: Short story by Tim WintonAquifer is from Tim Winton’s collection The Turning. Set in an Australian immigrant suburb, the overlapping stories explore life-shaping events in otherwise ordinary lives. Here, a drop in the aquifer brought about by land clearing and prolonged dry weather drains a nearby swamp. A news story about the discovery of human bones at the water’s edge prompts a middle-aged ex-resident to re-live his childhood and the time when, as the only witness, he calmly stood by and watched a neighborhood bully drown. Themes: change, racial stereotyping, perceptions of time. Change is explored on three levels: personal, community and the environment.

Continue ReadingAquifer

The White Horses of Vienna

The White Horses of Vienna: Short story by Kay BoyleThis story from Kay Boyle reflects the rise of Austrian Nazism in the early 1930s. Its main characters are an injured doctor (and Nazi sympathizer), his anti-Semitic wife, and a Jewish locum sent to work with them. The story neither condemns nor condones Nazism. A puppet show alludes to the injured doctor’s political ideals; a tale about Vienna’s famed Lipizzaner horses is a metaphor for the fall of the Austrian Empire and the dire economic circumstances that will soon encourage the government to welcome Hitler’s armies. Themes include isolation and natural beauty, family, racism, fascism, activism vs. acceptance.

Continue ReadingThe White Horses of Vienna

Arabesque: The Mouse

Arabesque: The Mouse: Short story by A. E. CoppardIn this psychological horror story by A. E. Coppard, an idealistic man who has withdrawn from society due to constant rebuff sits alone in a mouse-infested garret. As he watches the antics of a mouse in front of his fireplace, his mind wanders to the death of his mother and loss of the only woman he ever loved. When he comes back to reality, the mouse is sitting before a trap with its forepaws torn off. Association of this with his mother’s grisly death sends him to the brink of madness. Themes include mother-child relationships, loss, depression, despair, shame, insanity.

Continue ReadingArabesque: The Mouse

Silent Snow, Secret Snow

Silent Snow, Secret Snow: Short story by Conrad AikenConrad Aiken’s Silent Snow, Secret Snow is a psychological horror fantasy. It begins with a twelve-year-old boy (Paul) imagining overnight snowfalls. This leads to a growing fascination with snow, the thought of which provides relief from the mundane routine of his daily life, the ugliness of the world around him, parent-child conflicts, and awakening sexuality. As the imagined snowfalls increase, Paul begins to lose touch with reality. In the disturbing climax, his boy’s “snow voices” come alive and he completely withdraws into himself as they tell him a story. Major themes: mental illness, concealment, detachment and alienation.

Continue ReadingSilent Snow, Secret Snow

Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird

Blues Ain't No Mockin Bird: Short story by Toni Cade BambaraMajor themes of this story by Toni Cade Bambara are respect for oneself and others, and maintaining one’s dignity when treated disrespectfully. Two white men making a government film on their property anger the matriarch of a poor African-American family. They show disrespect by invading her family’s privacy and filming them without permission, speaking down to her in a condescending way, and ignoring her demand to stop filming. Although clearly enraged, she remains outwardly calm; not so her husband who, sensing her feelings, takes non-violent but decisive action. Other themes include social class, racism, privacy, storytelling.

Continue ReadingBlues Ain’t No Mockin Bird

Shiloh

Shiloh: Short story by Bobbie Ann MasonIn the same way that Shiloh Military Park is the site of a major turning point in the American Civil War, the couple in this story by Bobby Ann Mason face several turning points of their own. The first, always lingering in the background and never spoken of, is the death of their infant son. Later comes an accident that forces the truck-driver husband to give up his job, and an identity crisis that results in his wife seeking a new beginning in life. Themes: loss, guilt, avoidance, individual and community change, marriage, gender roles, self-discovery/fulfillment, independence.

Continue ReadingShiloh

Emergency

Emergency: Short story by Denis JohnsonOur objective is to include stories from as wide a range of well-known authors as possible. Occasionally this entails featuring a story that some may find frivolous or offensive, but others rave about. So it is with this humorous drugs-fiction tale from Denis Johnson. Two friends, a hospital clerk and orderly, stumble through their shift (and manage to save an emergency patient’s eyesight!) while high on stolen medication. They then embark on a drug-addled drive involving a carnival, famous guru, dead rabbits, mistaken military graveyard, and AWOL soldier. Themes: death, despair, escapism, drug abuse, responsibility, and illusion vs. reality.

Continue ReadingEmergency