This story by Margaret Atwood begins with four passages in which bread is used as a metaphor to illustrate a range of themes. In the first, it’s the good life (plenty and relaxation). In the second, famine (choices and consequences). In the third, life and death (betrayal or sacrifice). And in the fourth, social inequality and greed. The story concludes with a passage about a floating loaf of bread we know is real but are afraid to touch. The inference here is that most unaffected people prefer to turn a blind eye to the starvation and suffering in the world. More…
Heart is Where the Home Is
This Thea Astley story is set during period of the Stolen Generations: sixty-years over which up to 100,000 Australian aboriginal children were forcefully removed from their families, placed in missionary schools, and trained to work in white society. Although the story recounts an aboriginal mother’s desperate attempt to save her child, a major theme is the strong connection her people have to “home” (their clan and land). When a white farming family offers her a safe haven away from the wretched camp she lives in, her answer is Not same. Other themes include racism, brutality, family, motherhood, courage, compassion. More…
The Death of a Government Clerk
In this playful story by Anton Chekhov, a government clerk enjoying a night at the opera is dismayed when an unexpected sneeze lands droplets on the bald head of a civilian General. Although his immediate apology is accepted, the clerk not only makes a nuisance of himself with continued apologies during the performance, but pesters the general over the next two days trying to explain what happened. As the general becomes increasingly angry, the clerk becomes increasingly anxious until the stress gets too much for him. Themes include social class (living in fear), guilt, insecurity, paranoia, anxiety. More…
The Bakery Attack / Second Bakery Attack
The Second Bakery Attack, one of Haruki Murakami’s most popular stories, is the sequel to an earlier, less well-known work. In the first story, an empty stomach symbolizes a life empty of ambition and intellectual stimulation. In the second, it symbolizes the insecurity inherent in a recently married couple’s (as yet) superficial relationship. The man has a lot to learn about his new wife, as becomes clear when she proves surprisingly adept at planning and carrying out a robbery. For the couple, the successful robbery proves a bonding, curse-lifting experience. Themes include marriage, insecurity, gender roles/’manhood’, the supernatural, change (Westernization). More…
Her Mother
This story by Anjana Appachana describes an Indian mother’s feelings of anguish, grief and betrayal upon reading the perfunctory first letter home from her younger daughter who has travelled to America to complete a Ph.D. Much of the story involves her thoughts on how best to reply. These range from ranting about personal care and the dangers of American life, providing “chatty” family news and encouraging her to find and marry a suitable Indian man, and confronting her about her abrupt decision to leave in such anger. Themes include tradition vs. westernization, independence, marriage and gender roles, double standards, self-pity. More…