Featured Stories

The Law of Life

The Law of Life: Short story by Jack LondonJack London‘s The Law of Life tells of the life and impending death of Koskoosh, an old Inuit who was once chief of his tribe but is left by them to die in the snow. Some critics suggest that although Koskoosh is the protagonist, the real hero of the story is an old moose that was too weak to keep up with its herd. Can you see why? Major themes: the inevitability of death (the law of life), survival of the individual (man vs. nature), survival of the tribe (expendability of the old and weak), tradition, courage, acceptance.

Continue ReadingThe Law of Life

Cat and Mouse in Partnership

Cat and Mouse in Partnership: German folktale from the Brothers GrimmThis folktale is about a greedy cat that cheats a trusting friend. A cat and mouse decide to live together. They discover a pot of ‘fat’ (probably dripping) and hide it in a safe place so they will have something to eat over winter. Unfortunately, the cat cannot stop thinking about the pot and empties it well before time. In most folktales, something bad would happen to the cat to teach it a lesson. Not so here! When the mouse complains, the cat does what cats normally do. The moral: You can’t change the natural ways of the world.

Continue ReadingCat and Mouse in Partnership

Drying Out

Drying Out: Children's story by Cynthia RylantDrying Out is from Cynthia Rylant’s book Every Living Thing, which contains several stories aimed at school-aged children about how animals can change people’s lives. In this story, the expression ‘Drying Out’ has nothing to do with water. Rather, it is an idiom which means for someone who is dependent on alcohol to stop drinking. The main character (protagonist) is a returned soldier whose life is ruined when he starts drinking too much after his wife leaves him. He is sent to a special hospital where some unlikely friends who visit every morning help him to overcome his problem.

Continue ReadingDrying Out

The Star

The Star: Short story by Arthur C. ClarkeIn Arthur C. Clarke’s The Star, a manned spaceship travels to the edge of the galaxy to explore a nebula (cloud of interstellar gas) surrounding a collapsed star. Within the nebula is a burnt out planet that miraculously survived the explosion. On the planet is a huge stone marker left by a highly advanced civilization that did not survive. Under the marker, buried deep inside the planet, is a vault containing the civilization’s secrets. Among these is a disturbing discovery that challenges our traditional concepts of God. Themes: religious faith, science vs. religion, humankind as the center of the universe.

Continue ReadingThe Star

An Unsound Sleep

An Unsound Sleep: Short story by Nhat TienThis story by Nhat Tien is set during the Vietnamese Buddhist Crisis of 1963. An old man’s contented existence is shattered when his only daughter is involved in, and subsequently jailed for, anti-government activities. Rather than focus on the violence of the revolt and ensuing CIA backed coup, the story contrasts the idealistic expectations of the daughter and her revolutionary boyfriend with what comes after. When released from prison the couple find that, although Buddhists have gained religious freedom, little else has changed. Themes include family, poverty, freedom, idealism, sacrifice, futility, alcohol abuse.

Continue ReadingAn Unsound Sleep

Hermann the Irascible (Story of the Great Weep)

Hermann the Iracible: Short story by SakiThis story by Saki is a classic example of the use of reverse psychology to achieve a desired result… in this case, shutting down the women’s suffrage movement. The story first appeared in 1909 at the height of mass demonstrations of both men and women in support of the cause. I have seen some suggestions that the story trivializes women’s rights. This misses the point that Saki’s use of satire is so “over the top” here that, rather than mocking suffrage, the story highlights and supports it. Themes include human rights, tyranny, manipulation through excess.

Continue ReadingHermann the Irascible (Story of the Great Weep)

Big Blonde

Big Blonde: Short story by Dorothy ParkerThis rather depressing story from Dorothy Parker exposes the different socioeconomic standing and sexual standards applicable to men and women in 1920s America. The protagonist (Hazel) falls from being a popular plus-size model to a depressed middle-aged alcoholic. The cause of her decline lies in extreme moods that sour relationships with her husband and the other hard-drinking men in her life. Forced into a demeaning series of casual affairs with married men who pay her keep in expectation of sexual services, she sees only one pathway to lasting peace. Themes: body image, vulnerability, sexual exploitation, loss of identity/self-esteem, depression, alcoholism.

Continue ReadingBig Blonde

The Homecoming Stranger

The Homecoming Stranger: Short story by Bei DaoIn this story by Bei Dao, a young woman in 1970s China has difficulty dealing with her father’s homecoming after being falsely convicted of literary crimes and spending twenty years in prison. She feels resentment, not only over what she sees as his ‘desertion’, but also over her mother standing by when she was imprisoned and tortured at age twelve. Fortunately, on coming to understand her father’s love and the courage he had showed, she realizes her selfishness and they reconcile. Themes include the unfairness and brutality of the Mao regime, resentment, hypocrisy, rejection, fatherly love, courage, selfishness, forgiveness, reconciliation.

Continue ReadingThe Homecoming Stranger