Featured Stories

The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville Ghost: Short story by Oscar WildeOscar Wilde is known for his comedic, usually satirical stories that focus on the shallowness and hypocrisy of the Victorian upper class. He goes several steps further in this playful ghost story, also mocking the brash practicality of wealthy Americans and some of the common devices used in horror and romantic literature. A fascinating aspect of the plot is the way Wilde builds sympathy for his spectral protagonist before revealing the petty reason the cruel man murdered his unfortunate wife. Themes: (general) British vs American culture, tradition, compassion; (the ghost) duty, artistry, suffering, atonement, redemption, peace.

Continue ReadingThe Canterville Ghost

Désirée’s Baby

Desiree's Baby: Short story by Kate ChopinKate Chopin’s Désirée’s Baby Kate Chopin’s Désirée’s Baby reflects the culture of America’s ‘Deep South’ in the mid-1800s. The name Désirée originates from the French word for desire. Armand Aubigny, a young plantation owner who is proud, bigoted and harsh on his slaves, marries the orphaned Désirée for her beauty. He is not concerned about her unknown background until she has a mixed-race baby. His reaction causes Désirée to run from the house and flee with the baby into the bayou. Some weeks later, Armand uncovers an even more devastating secret. Themes (see below) include love, impulsiveness, racism, elitism, shame and/or vindictiveness, and identity.

Continue ReadingDésirée’s Baby

To the Man On the Trail

To the Man On the Trail: Short story by Jack LondonIn this Jack London story, a group of Alaskan miners celebrating Christmas greet a stranger warmly. The man is in a hurry. He shares a drink, passes around a picture of his family, and asks to be awakened in four hours to be on his way. Shortly after he leaves, a policeman arrives claiming the stranger had stolen $40,000. The men are initially angry at being deceived. However, when they learn he had only stolen money owed to him, they drink to the stranger’s good luck and “confusion to the police”. Themes include camaraderie, betrayal, morality, wilderness justice.

Continue ReadingTo the Man On the Trail

Mrs. Geni in December

Mrs. Geni in December: Short story by Arswendo AtmowilotoThis story by Arswendo Atmowiloto explores the life of an eccentric Indonesian bridal make-up artist. While some of her views reflect Indonesia’s Muslim culture (marrying when it is time, not of love, and support for polygyny), others challenge it (pregnant brides should be proud of their proven fertility and not hide the fact). She believes that while marriage is illogical and “humanity’s most restricting and frightening discovery”, the ceremony brings joy and happiness. She proclaims: “Let people experience joy once in their lives,” implying the ceremony may mark the end of their happiness. Themes include marriage, freedom and happiness.

Continue ReadingMrs. Geni in December

Hot Ice

Hot Ice: Short story by Stuart DybekMajor themes of this story by Stuart Dybek are urban decay and social change. The state of a 1970s Chicago neighbourhood is reflected in the desolate, drug and alcohol-fueled lives of the story’s main characters. A prison, which features prominently in the story, signifies their bleak chances of escaping these circumstances. The story is tied together by an urban myth about a “saintly” girl encased in a block of ice. Her rescue and “release” symbolizes hope for change and a better future. Other themes include religion, loss, grief, coming of age, identity, nostalgia, despair, drug and alcohol abuse, myth.

Continue ReadingHot Ice

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

Eleonora

Eleonora: Short story by Edgar Allan PoeIn this atypical Edgar Allan Poe story there is madness, but not the destructive kind; death, but not the gruesome kind; and a spirit, but not a frightening one. Also unusual is Poe’s extensive use of poetic prose. His description of the idyllic valley may be an allusion to the Garden of Eden, leaving readers to wonder if the couple’s incestuous lovemaking beneath the serpent-like trees was the “apple” that destroyed their paradise. Themes: the beauty of nature, innocence, passion, love, death, moving on. Poe’s message: true love endures; despite the loss of a loved one, life must go on.

Continue ReadingEleonora

Leaving the Yellow House

Leaving the Yellow House: Short story by Saul BellowIn this depressing but captivating story by Saul Bellow, a seventy-two-year-old woman reviews her life of lost opportunities after an accident threatens her ability to live independently in her off-the-grid Yellow House. A heavy drinker, she is portrayed as irresponsible, selfish, brash and demanding. With no close relatives and the six other eccentric white people in her isolated desert community tolerating rather than befriending her, she has no one to turn to and, more importantly, nobody “good enough” to bequeath her only treasure (the house) to. Themes include poverty, aging and death, identity, self-deception, alienation and isolation, disconnection, alcohol abuse.

Continue ReadingLeaving the Yellow House