Short Story Reviews
In The Village Saint by Bessie Head we have the theme of control, image, secrecy, power, selfishness and materialism. Taken from her The Collector of Treasures collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Head may be exploring the theme of control. Mma-Mompati is in control […]
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In Heaven is not Closed by Bessie Head we have the theme of faith, acceptance, fear, power, alienation, ignorance, love, tradition and contentment. Taken from her The Collector of Treasures collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Head may be exploring the theme […]
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In Flowering Judas by Katherine Anne Porter we have the theme of fear, apathy, power, corruption, guilt and betrayal. Taken from her collection of the same name the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the the story the reader realises that Porter may be exploring the theme of fear and apathy. Laura […]
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In Respectability by Sherwood Anderson we have the theme of resentment, letting go, fidelity, trust, respectability, isolation, loneliness and forgiveness. Taken from his Winesburg, Ohio collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises how symbolically important the narrator’s physical description of Wash Williams is. It […]
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In The Pheasant by Raymond Carver we have the theme of paralysis, connection, struggle, conflict, identity, change and control. Taken from his Fires collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Carver may be exploring the theme of paralysis. There is a sense that both characters […]
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In The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe we have the theme of guilt, paralysis, madness, paranoia and identity. Set in the 1840s the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Poe may be exploring the theme of guilt. The narrator after he kills the old man […]
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In Snapshots of a Wedding by Bessie Head we have the theme of marriage, arrogance, responsibility, tradition, status, ego and love. Taken from her The Collector of Treasures collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Head may be exploring the theme of marriage and the reasons […]
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In The Man Who Loved His Kind by Virginia Woolf we have the theme of ego, insecurity, resentment, recognition, loneliness and change. 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 ego. Rather […]
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In Brothers by Sherwood Anderson we have the theme of connection, loneliness, escape, paralysis and change. Taken from his The Triumph of the Egg and Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Anderson may be exploring the theme of connection. Out of all […]
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In War by Sherwood Anderson we have the theme of conflict, change, determination, appearance, connection and control. Taken from his The Triumph of the Egg and Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Anderson may be exploring the theme of determination. Not only […]
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In Akueke by Chinua Achebe we have the theme of control, independence, freedom, defiance, fear and tradition. Taken from his Girls at War 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 Achebe may be exploring the theme of control and independence. Akueke’s brothers […]
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In The Guilty Party by O. Henry we have the theme of responsibility, selfishness, betrayal, love, sacrifice and redemption. Set in the late nineteenth century the story is narrated in the third person though Henry does briefly shift to the first person (Lizzie) near the end of the story. It may also be important that Henry on three separate occasions […]
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In Marriage is a Private Affair by Chinua Achebe we have the theme of modernity, tradition, control, conflict, stubbornness, gender roles, independence, change and remorse. Taken from his Girls at War and Other 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 Achebe may […]
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In The Madman by Chinua Achebe we have the theme of struggle, determination, identity, conflict, appearance and perception. Taken from his Girls at War and Other 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 Achebe may be exploring the theme of struggle. Though Nwibe […]
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In The Voter by Chinua Achebe we have the theme of corruption, loyalty, guilt, power, greed and tradition. Taken from his Girls at War 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 Achebe may be exploring the theme of corruption. As a politician […]
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In Next Door by Tobias Wolff we have the theme of fear, conflict, violence, peace and harmony. Taken from his In The Garden of The North American Martyrs and Other 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 Wolff may be exploring the […]
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In Mr. and Mrs. Dove by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of uncertainty, insecurity, hope, loneliness, control, disappointment, acceptance and paralysis. Taken from her The Garden Party and Other 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 Mansfield may be exploring the […]
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In The Introduction by Virginia Woolf we have the theme of isolation, fear, insecurity, anxiety, equality and class. 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 readers realises that Woolf may be exploring the theme of isolation. Lily while at […]
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In At Lehmann’s by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of innocence, vulnerability, appearance, confusion and desire. Taken from her In a German Pension collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Mansfield may be exploring the theme of innocence. Sabina believes Hans’ story […]
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In The Woman at the Store by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of struggle, hardship, relief, loneliness, change, isolation and regret. Taken from her Something Childish and Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed female narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Mansfield may be exploring the theme […]
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In Honeymoon by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of love, happiness, doubt, selfishness and control. Taken from her The Doves’ Nest 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 Mansfield may be exploring the theme of love and happiness. For large sections […]
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In Revelations by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of insecurity, loneliness, freedom, change, compassion and selfishness. Taken from her Bliss 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 Mansfield may be exploring the theme of insecurity. Monica at times considers herself to […]
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In Six Years After by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of acceptance, compliance, selfishness, control and paralysis. Taken from her The Collected Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Mansfield may be exploring the theme of acceptance and compliance. While both protagonists are on the […]
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In The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce we have the theme of isolation, loneliness, hope, grief, failure and guilt. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the setting of the story the reader realises that Bierce may be exploring the theme of isolation. Murlock is […]
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In Dead Men’s Path by Chinua Achebe we have the theme of change, tradition, progress, arrogance, control and ego. Taken from his Girls at War 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 Achebe may be exploring the theme of change and tradition. […]
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