Glory

Glory: Short story by Lesley Nneka ArimahGlory (aka Glorybetogod), the protagonist in this Lesley Nneka Arimah story, is so screwed-up and irresponsible as to be almost likeable. As foreshadowed by her grandfather at birth, Glory’s history is one of poor life choices. At the end of the story, she has yet another decision to make. A “yes” will lead to the kind of life that most single Nigerian women her age dream of. A “no” could send her back to contemplating how a bottle of Moscato would pair with thirty gelcap sleeping pills. Themes: superstition, parental expectations, choices and consequences.

Continue ReadingGlory

A Retrieved Reformation

A Retrieved Reformation: Short story by O. HenryIn this story from William porter (aka O. Henry), safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine gives up his life of crime for love. He changes his identity, builds a successful business, and becomes a model citizen. Unfortunately, police detective Ben Price is hot on Jimmy’s trail. The title reflects Price’s decision to let Jimmy “retrieve” his “reformed” life after witnessing him risk it all to save a child. Themes: love, reform, redemption and identity. Love succeeds in reforming Jimmy where the justice system had failed. Redemption comes with Jimmy’s potential sacrifice. A possible moral: there is a Ralph Spenser (good side) in everyone.

Continue ReadingA Retrieved Reformation

The Love Potion

The Love Potion: Short story by Herman BosmanA major theme of this Herman Bosman story is the importance of tradition, myth and storytelling in the lives of Boer settlers. The narrator begins by asserting that everyone in the Marico knows that juba-berry juice can make a woman fall in love with a man. He then relates a tongue-in-cheek story of how he once “helped” a shy policeman use the juice to win a girl’s heart. The ambiguous ending leaves it unclear whether the potion really worked. Other themes: love, fear of rejection, superstition/magic vs. reality, morality (lack of respect for the girl and her right to decide).

Continue ReadingThe Love Potion

Letter From an Unknown Woman

Letter From an Unknown Woman: Short story by Stefan ZweigIn this moving story by Stefan Zweig, a playboy writer receives a letter from a lovesick, dying woman. She has worshipped him all her life, they have had two brief dalliances, and she has borne his son. Yet he has no idea who she is! Until their son was born, he was the sole focus of her life; for him, she didn’t exist. Readers are left with a question. If she loved him so much, why send a letter that may haunt him for the rest of his days? Themes: philandering, obsessive love, sacrifice, passion, suffering, confession, death.

Continue ReadingLetter From an Unknown Woman

The Offshore Pirate

The Offshore Pirate: Short story by F. Scott FitzgeraldSeveral F. Scott Fitzgerald stories feature spoiled young women from wealthy families who make a sport of manipulating the men around them. Ardita, the flapper protagonist in this romantic adventure, is one of the rudest, most obnoxious of these. A highlight of the story is Fitzgerald’s powerful descriptive language. A disturbing feature for today’s readers is the use of 1920s social and racial slurs in building Curtis Carlyle’s backstory. Major themes include wealth, egotism, rebellion against authority, escapism, racism and class-consciousness. Despite the closing “illustrative” kiss, one wonders if any relationship with Ardita could have a happily ever after ending.

Continue ReadingThe Offshore Pirate

The District Doctor

The District Doctor: Short story by Ivan TurgenevThe major themes of this story by Ivan Turgenev are duty, lying, love, death and betrayal. A doctor becomes infatuated with a beautiful 20-year-old patient. As the woman’s condition worsens, he lies to her family about her chances of recovery. On sensing her coming death, the woman tells the doctor she loves him. He replies that he also loves her, accepts her ring, and promises to ask for her mother’s blessing. When the woman confesses their love to her mother, the doctor denies everything and blames her fever. Broken-hearted, she for asks his forgiveness and re-affirms her love before dying.

Continue ReadingThe District Doctor

Titanic Survivors Found in Bermuda Triangle

Titanic Survivors Found in Bermuda Triangle: Short story by Robert ButlerRobert Olen Butler’s Titanic survivor is an early 1900s women’s suffrage campaigner. After “waking up” in a lifeboat off the Miami coast in the 1990s, she realizes there is no place for her in the modern world. Women have been emancipated, and her family and friends are all dead. The only man she has ever had strong feelings for (other than her father) went down with the ship. Having lacked the courage to express her feelings at the time, she decides to find him again. Themes: change, father-daughter relationships, women’s rights, finding purpose and meaning in life, sexuality, misandry, love.

Continue ReadingTitanic Survivors Found in Bermuda Triangle

The Shadow in the Rose Garden

The Shadow in the Rose Garden: Short story by D. H. Lawrence This story by D. H. Lawrence is about a couple in a loveless marriage. Upon learning that her ex-lover had died, the woman married “below her station”. She convinces her husband to holiday in the village where she met the lover. While visiting a rose garden, she finds him still alive. However, he has suffered brain damage and doesn’t remember her. During an argument, the woman tells her husband about the relationship. His responses range from disbelief to jealousy, anger, rage and finally, grudging acceptance. The big question: What drove the ex-lover to “chuck” the woman and go away?

Continue ReadingThe Shadow in the Rose Garden