In this heartbreaking story by Liliana Heker, a nine-year-old girl learns the hard way about social class. Her mother is a maid, and every day after school she does homework with Luciana, the daughter of her employer, while her mother finishes work. The girls become friends, but her mother is uneasy when she is invited to Luciana’s birthday party. Contrary to her mother’s concerns, the girl is the star of the party and feels on top of the world … until the party favors are handed out. Themes include social class, friendship, childhood innocence, manipulation, shame. More…
Like the Sun
The major theme of this story by R. K. Narayan is the nature and consequences of truth. After observing that relationships involve tempering truth so as not to hurt one another, the protagonist adds that life is not worth living without telling nothing but the truth at least one day each year. On one of these days, his honesty upsets three people. The first two are needlessly hurt; the third, although unhappy, benefits from his frankness. The story shows that truth is indeed like the sun: most of the time warm and nourishing, but also capable of causing serious damage. More…
A Tiger in the House
In this story by Ruskin Bond, an old man finds what appears to be an orphan tiger cub in the jungle and takes it home as a family pet. After six months, the cub grows out of its ‘playful’ stage and starts to become less friendly. The old man donates the tiger to a zoo, and gets an unexpected surprise when he visits it six months later. The story raises serious questions about the man’s two decisions (to take the tiger cub home, and to give the grown animal to a zoo where there are no others of its kind). More…
A Respectable Woman
Kate Chopin’s ‘respectable woman’ is happily married and looking forward to spending quality time with her husband. She is so disappointed when he invites an old school friend to visit that she decides to be polite but not friendly towards him. At first, the two barely communicate. However, there is a growing chemistry between them. This disturbs the woman, who finds an excuse to visit an Aunt for the remainder of his stay. When the woman learns the man will visit again, she tells her husband: I have overcome everything! Overcome what? Does she plan to remain a ‘respectable woman’? More…
Long Walk to Forever
Kurt Vonnegut described this semi-autobiographical tale, written in honor of his wife, as a sickeningly slick love story. A satire of the “love at first sight” romance cliché, it describes how, after a platonic friendship of almost twenty years, a single expression of love and two kisses is all it takes for Catharine to question her plans to marry another man and fall into Newt’s arms. Themes include communication (failure to express/discuss their feelings sooner), taking people for granted (Newt didn’t appreciate how much Catharine meant to him until almost losing her!), and fighting for what is important in life. More…