Featured Stories

Immortality

Immortality: Short story by Yiyun LiYiyun Li’s story exploring aspects of China’s transition from empire to communist super-power is unusual in that its point of view is not that of a single character, but rather the collective voice of a rural community. Central themes are lack of power of the individual (symbolized by emasculation), and abuse of power by the ruling classes. Secondary themes are the methods adopted by the Communist Party to consolidate its power (indoctrination through cultism, repression and fear), and the changes taking place as modern technology exposes the masses to Western lifestyles and values.

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Markheim

Markheim: Short story by Robert Louis StevensonThe central themes of this Robert Louis Stevenson classic are self-awareness and the nature of good and evil. Markheim, a hitherto petty thief, “steps up” in the criminal world by murdering an antique dealer. It is Christmas day, the dealer’s shop is closed, and his maid has gone out. As Markheim searches the house looking for money, a mysterious stranger appears. Believing him to be the Devil, Markheim must choose between accepting the stranger’s offer of help and killing the returning maid, or paying the supreme price for his crime. Other themes: poverty, crime and punishment, death, redemption, the supernatural.

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A Clean Well-Lighted Place

A Clean Well-lighted Place: Short story by Ernest HemingwayThis story by Ernest Hemingway takes place in a cafe. Two waiters (one young, the other middle-aged) talk about an old man sitting alone at one of the tables. A line from each waiter exemplifies three major themes. From the young waiter: I wouldn’t want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing. (attitudes towards the aged). From the older waiter: It [life] was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. (emptiness and despair). Other themes include aging and death, gender stereotyping, and the fact that money doesn’t buy happiness.

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The Nose

The Nose: Short story by Nikolai GogolNikolai Gogol was a pioneer in absurdist fiction, writing this story almost eighty years before Franz Kafka’s iconic Metamorphosis. Gogol’s absurdism served an important purpose: social criticism. The Nose is a comical account of “Major” Platon Kovaloff, a vain, pompous and narcissistic municipal official who goes looking for his wandering proboscis. Kovaloff is so obsessed with improving and capitalizing on his social position that he feels emasculated without it. The story satirizes three aspects of Russian society: 1) the corrupt government bureaucracy; 2) its fixation on superficial signs of importance; and 3) how different social classes view and treat women.

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A Useless Man

A Useless Man: Short story by Sait Faik AbasıyanıkRather than being “useless”, the protagonist of this story by Sait Faik Abasıyanık admits to having given up on life. A recluse, he hasn’t washed himself or left his Istanbul neighborhood of four streets in seven years. He follows the same routine, meets the same people, and fantasizes about the same voluptuous Jewish woman every day. One day, for no apparent reason, he ventures further afield and is dumbstruck by the changes to and vibrancy of the city. After returning home, he is so disoriented by the experience that he contemplates suicide. Themes include alienation, loneliness, fear, hopelessness, depression.

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Blood-Burning Moon

Blood-Burning-Moon: Short story by Jean ToomerSet in the American South during the days of enforced segregation, this story by Jean Toomer involves a love triangle between Louisa, an attractive young African-American woman and two men. Bob (the entitled son a white planter whose slaves were freed and landholdings reduced after the Civil War) picks a fight with his adversary Tom (a poor, quick-tempered black labourer). When Bob pulls a knife, Tom does likewise and kills him. In keeping with the times, Tom is gruesomely executed by a white vigilante mob. Themes: love vs. lust, racism/white supremacy, identity, violence, vigilante justice.

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Yellow Moepels

Yellow Moepels: Short story by Herman BosmanIn this story by Herman Bosman, a young a young farmer riding off to fight the British during the short First Boer War promises the girl he is engaged to that he will be home when the moepel fruit are ripe (yellow). The girl visits a native witch-doctor who tells her the same thing. We learned earlier in the story that witch-doctors can only tell you the things that don’t matter in your life. There is something more important in the girl’s future that the witch-doctor neglected to divulge. Themes: love, superstition, war, “bravery”, memory, racism.

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Licked

Licked: Short story by Paul JenningsThe major themes of this very funny story by Paul Jennings are practical jokes and consequences. Young Andrew learns that his father’s boss is coming to dinner. When he overhears his parents making a pact not to criticize his table manners during the meal, he decides to put them to the test. And just in case it looks like they will be able to keep their promise, he hides a ‘secret weapon’ under the table that is sure to make them angry. The secret weapon works, but Andrew hadn’t thought about what problems this might cause for his father’s job.

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