Today we have two stories by Arthur Conan Doyle dealing with the “death” and “rebirth” of Sherlock Holmes. In The Final Problem, Holmes has his first and last encounter with master criminal and his intellectual equal, Professor James Moriarty. After a pursuit across Europe, the pair are believed to have perished when they tumbled off the Reichenbach Falls during a struggle. In the Adventure of the Empty House, Holmes miraculously returns to bring three remaining members of Moriarty’s criminal network to justice. In capturing the first, he solves an important murder investigation. Themes include justice, pursuit, deception, courage, sacrifice, death. More…
Real Food
In this story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the term real food means food that is traditional to a culture. In Nigeria, the staple traditional dish is a type of flour known as garri. The girl in the story feels sick when she eats “swallow” (small lumps of cooked garri dough dipped in soup). She complains that it makes her throat itch, which indicates she may be allergic to it. Although the girl’s educated mother is understanding and accommodates her eating preferences, less informed relatives see this as a sign that she has abandoned her culture. Themes: family, culture, identity. More…
The Ant-Lion
In this story by Judith Wight, a brother and sister playing in the Australian bush discover the pit of an ant-lion larvae. Out of curiosity, the boy drops small ants into it. When these prove easy prey, and against his sister’s protests, he drops a much larger meat-ant into the pit. He prevents the meat-ant’s desperate attempts to escape, and the two watch in silent horror as the meat-ant’s abdomen is severed from its body. Disgusted, the two run from the scene. Themes include childhood curiosity, the cruelty of mankind vs. cruelty in nature, horror, shame. More…
What I Have Been Doing Lately
This circular narrative by Jamaica Kincaid takes the form of a dream in which the narrator, woken by her doorbell and finding no one there, embarks upon a surreal journey. An interesting aspect of the story is that although delivered in the first person, the narrator’s identity is neither given nor defined. When asked the titular question by an unknown woman, she gives a slightly different version of the journey so far, suggesting either personal growth (greater awareness), or that she has experienced multiple iterations of the journey. Themes include reality vs. fantasy, loss and longing, motherhood, personal growth, identity. More…
Misery / The Lament
In this story by Anton Chekhov, sledge driver Iona Potapov is distraught because his son has died and he feels alone in the world. Another translation of the title is “The Lament” (a show of sorrow for someone who has died or something that is gone). The story addresses the question: What could be worse than the sadness associated with losing a loved one? Chekhov’s answer: To feel so lonely and cut off from the world that you have no one to talk to about it.. Themes include grief, discomfort, indifference, cruelty, loneliness, the healing power of animals. More…