Peter Meinke’s The Cranes is a story about enduring love. Both members of a frail, elderly couple suffer from serious medical issues that have destroyed their quality of life. The woman appears to be the sicker of the two, and may be terminally ill. They reflect on their lives together as they sit in their car near some isolated marshland. As they talk, they observe two aged whooping cranes feeding along the shoreline. These birds, which are long-lived and mate for life, symbolize the couple. As a shot rings out, the cranes soar into the sky.
There is a lot hidden beneath the surface of this very short story. The most obvious unanswered question is “What happened?” Was there a mercy killing, a twin suicide, or did the shot come from somewhere else? Major themes are love, suffering, death and suicide. There is also a theme of changing times. In the same way that whooping cranes are on the brink of extinction, the story raises the question of whether traditional family values (marriage for life and grown children staying in touch with their parents) are also dying out.
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