Short Story Reviews
In A Young Turkish Catastrophe by Saki we have the theme of governance, inequality, power, self-importance, loyalty, control and freedom. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Saki may be exploring the theme of governance. At […]
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In Girl by Jamaica Kincaid we have the theme of powerlessness, domesticity, independence, identity, inequality, sexuality, freedom, tradition and control. Narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator (mother) the reader realises after reading the story that Kincaid may be exploring the theme of powerlessness. There is a sense that the narrator’s daughter is powerless when it comes to […]
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In The Renunciation by Rabindranath Tagore we have the theme of class, prejudice, shame, revenge, letting go, love, bravery and tradition. Taken from his The Hungry Stones and Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Tagore may be exploring the theme of class. […]
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In The Parrot’s Tale by Rabindranath Tagore we have the theme of control, freedom, trust, failure and responsibility. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Tagore may be exploring the theme of control. The King wishes for the parrot to be educated and goes about it in a manner which […]
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In Of White Hairs and Cricket by Rohinton Mistry we have the theme of loyalty, connection, escape, freedom, guilt, fear, conflict and coming of age. Narrated in the first person by an unnamed fourteen year old boy the reader realises after reading the story that Mistry may be exploring the theme of loyalty. Every Sunday the narrator plucks the white […]
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In Tyres by Adam Thorpe we have the theme of responsibility, tradition, love, pride, helplessness, guilt, control and grief. Narrated in the first person by a Frenchman called Raoul Paulhan the story is a memory piece and after reading the story the reader realises that Thorpe may be exploring the theme of responsibility. Both Raoul and his father take great […]
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In A Friend in Need by W. Somerset Maugham we have the theme of appearance, hopelessness, friendship, desperation and connection. Taken from his Collected Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Maugham may be exploring the theme of appearance. The narrator […]
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In My Lost Dollar by Stephen Leacock we have the theme of honesty, hypocrisy, appearance, letting go, frustration and acceptance. Narrated in the first person by an unnamed man the reader realises after reading the story that Leacock may be exploring the theme of letting go. The narrator appears to be unable to let go of the fact that Todd owes […]
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In Fruition at Forty by R.K. Narayan we have the theme of conflict, doubt, anxiety, disappointment, responsibility, control and acceptance. Taken from his Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Narayana may be exploring the theme of doubt. […]
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In Crime and Punishment by R.K. Narayan we have the theme of fear, control, conflict and blackmail. Taken from his Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Narayan may be exploring the theme of fear. The teacher is […]
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In Esmé by Saki we have the theme of connection, pleasure, class, arrogance, selfishness, control and morality. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is a frame narrative and after reading the story the reader realises that Saki may be exploring the theme of arrogance. At no stage in the story do the Baroness or Constance attempt […]
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In Mrs Packletide’s Tiger by Saki we have the theme of jealousy, appearance, pride, insecurity, control, selfishness and blackmail. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Saki may be exploring the theme of jealousy. Mrs Packletide […]
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In Her Letters by Kate Chopin we have the theme of letting go, loyalty, conflict, torment, jealousy and trust. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Chopin may be exploring the theme of letting go. The female protagonist in the story is unable to destroy the letters she sent and […]
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In The Unexpected by Kate Chopin we have the theme of freedom, control, independence, honesty, escape, love, change and responsibility. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Chopin may be exploring the theme of love. At the start of the story Randall and Dorothea are very much in love. Though […]
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In The Recovery by Kate Chopin we have the theme of beauty, disillusion, insecurity, change, happiness and acceptance. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Chopin may be exploring the theme of beauty. Though Jane has recovered from the loss of her sight there is a sense that she is […]
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In The Blind Man by Kate Chopin we have the theme of conflict, struggle, independence, change and connection. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Chopin may be exploring the theme of conflict. The blind man is not only hindered by the fact that he is blind but his journey […]
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In God Sees the Truth, But Waits by Leo Tolstoy we have the theme of guilt, forgiveness, faith, conflict, freedom and acceptance. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Tolstoy may be exploring the theme of forgiveness. Despite the fact that Aksyonof has spent twenty-six years in prison for a […]
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In Three Pictures by Virginia Woolf we have the theme of connection, desperation, mortality, change, struggle and control. Taken from her The Complete Shorter Fiction collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Woolf may be exploring the theme of connection. There is a sense that […]
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In A Woman’s College from Outside by Virginia Woolf we have the theme of independence, class, equality, struggle, acceptance and confusion. Taken from her The Complete Shorter Fiction collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Woolf may be exploring the theme of independence. […]
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In Monday or Tuesday by Virginia Woolf we have the theme of writing, insecurity, confusion and struggle. Taken from her The Complete Shorter Fiction collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Woolf may be exploring the theme of writing and the difficulties that can come […]
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In A Canary for One by Ernest Hemingway we have the theme of control, identity, discontent and separation. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed man and after reading the story the reader realises that Hemingway may be exploring the theme of control. There is a sense that […]
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In The Social Sense by W. Somerset Maugham we have the theme of appearance, freedom, insecurity, independence, acceptance and control. Taken from his Collected Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Maugham may be exploring the theme of appearance. Though Gerrard has died […]
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In A Face in the Dark by Ruskin Bond we have theme theme of fear, perception, control and connection. Taken from his Collected Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Bond may be exploring the theme of fear. Though Mr Oliver is not […]
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In Princess September by W. Somerset Maugham we have the theme of confusion, identity, jealousy, resentment, freedom, trust, control and innocence. Taken from his Collected Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Maugham may be exploring the theme of confusion. Several […]
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In Straight Flush by W. Somerset Maugham we have the theme of connection, trust, individuality, fear, arrogance and letting go. Taken from his Collected Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Maugham may be exploring the theme of connection. The narrator makes a […]
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