Featured Stories

Cat in the Rain

Cat in the Rain: Short story by Ernest HemingwayOn the surface, this story by Ernest Hemingway is a simple tale about a couple spending a rainy afternoon in a hotel room during an Italian holiday. The woman feels pity for a cat trying to stay dry under an outside table. Readers often interpret this as a symbol of the woman feeling trapped in an empty relationship. Possible causes include a lack of mutual love and respect, incompatibility, and the woman’s childishness and greed. Themes include the aftermath of war, kindness, communication breakdown, isolation and loneliness, boredom and disappointment, gender roles and femininity, dissatisfaction and unfulfilled desires.

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The Company of Wolves

The Company of Wolves: Short story by Angela CarterThe early part of Angela Carter’s Company of Wolves comprises background and several anecdotes which build anticipation and atmosphere. The main story, which doesn’t start until one-third of the way through the text, is an adult-oriented adaption of Charles Perrault’s children’s story, Little Red Riding Hood. Carter expands on Perrault’s original theme (beware of strangers) through eroticism. Rather than ending up in the wolf’s stomach, the girl uses her feminine wiles to “tame” him. Her additional themes include objectification and the innate power of women, virginity and female sexual awakening, violence, seduction, transformation.

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The Soul is Not a Smithy

The Soul is Not a Smithy: Novella by David Foster WallaceIn this story by David Foster Wallace, a man looks back to a day when, as a “slow” nine-year-old student, he daydreamed his way through a Civics class by making up stories based on visual clues he saw while staring out the window. Oblivious to the growing panic of classmates as a deranged substitute teacher wrote KILL, KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL repeatedly on the chalkboard, he remained sitting after the other students fled. A major theme is fear of disappointment and lack of fulfilment in adult life. Other themes include childhood trauma, violence, pain and loss, time, memory, death.

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Killings

Killings: Short story by Andre DubusAt a simplistic level this provocative story by Andre Dubus suggests that, given the right circumstances, almost anyone could become a cold-blooded killer. On one hand we have Strout (aggressive, violent and possibly psychologically disturbed); on the other, Matt (a peaceful, model citizen). Matt’s wife suffers untold emotional pain as she regularly encounters Strout (their son’s murderer) while he walks around town on bail. Rather than wait for the trial, Matt and his redneck friend Willis make elaborate plans for a killing of their own. Themes: love/marriage, murder, grief, justice, revenge, morality.

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The Magic Barrel

The Magic Barrel: Short story by Bernard MalamudIn this humorous story from Bernard Malamud a rabbinical student, a matchmaker, and an errant young woman with “desperately innocent” eyes are all potential winners. The story is as much about the young, introverted rabbi-to-be’s spiritual emptiness as it is his desire to find a wife. His first meeting with a potential match reveals an embarrassing truth: he can’t explain the reason for his calling. He feels a need to re-invent himself, and finds a path to possible redemption in the photograph of a woman whose face carries an “impression of evil”. Themes: tradition, materialism, loneliness, identity, religion, love, redemption.

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The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg: Short story by Mark TwainMark Twain’s imaginary Hadleyburg is a remarkable place. Despite its reputation for being the most honest and upright town in all the region, its citizens managed to offend a vindictive passing stranger. The visitor was so upset that he came up with an elaborate plan to destroy the town’s image. Ironically, as the story plays out, we learn that Hadleyburg’s version of “honesty” came at a price. It is a mean, hard, stingy town, and hasn’t a virtue in the world. Themes: revenge, appearance vs. reality, hypocrisy, temptation, morality vs. greed, “herd mentality”, guilt and shame.

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The Little Match Seller

The Little Match Seller: Children's story by H C AndersenThis well-known story by Hans Christian Andersen is one of the saddest Festive Season tales ever told. A cruel father sends his little girl out into the snow to sell matches. She crouches between two buildings, afraid to go home because she hasn’t made any sales. As she imagines the people inside their warm houses getting ready for a big New Year’s dinner, a vision of her beloved grandmother appears to take her to a better place. Themes include loneliness, poverty, cruelty, exploitation, indifference to suffering, hope, the power of fantasy, Christianity and life after death.

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Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?

Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?: Short story by Tim O'BrienPrivate First Class Paul Berlin faces three antagonists in this story by Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien: the enemy (it is after all a war story!), his fellow soldiers (he will be punished and/or branded as a coward if he fails in his duty), and himself (the ability to control his fear). Although the major theme is clearly fear, the story also highlights the naivety and youthful innocence of many of those sent to fight in the war. Fear is presented as two-dimensional. While giving in to it can have grave consequences, facing and harnessing it can save a soldier’s life.

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