In Goodbye, My Brother by John Cheever we have the theme of paralysis, separation, letting go, change, acceptance and denial. Taken from his Collected Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by a thirty something year old man (whose surname is Pommeroy) and after reading the story the reader realises that he […]

In Separating by John Updike we have the theme of struggle, confusion, conflict, acceptance and separation. Taken from his The Early 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 Updike may be exploring not only the theme of […]

In A & P by John Updike we have the theme of desire, change, conformity, rebellion, liberation and consumerism. Taken from his The Early Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by a young nineteen year old boy called Sammy and after reading the story the reader realises that Updike may be exploring […]

In A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell we have the theme of connection, inequality, independence, control and oppression. Taken from her collection of the same name the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Glaspell may be exploring the theme […]

In Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald we have the theme of identity, acceptance, popularity, betrayal, jealousy and rejection. Taken from his The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Fitzgerald may […]

In The Horse Dealer’s Daughter by D.H. Lawrence we have the theme of doubt, reliance, connection, desperation, escape and security. Taken from his Selected Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Lawrence may be, at the beginning of the […]

In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates we have the theme of conflict, independence and control. Written in 1966 and narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator, most critics would agree that the story is based on the crimes committed by Charles Schmid. What is also interesting […]

In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson we have the theme of acceptance, family and tradition. Set in a mall village in New England the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and very early on in the story (the second paragraph) the reader realises that Jackson is using foreshadowing. The stones […]

In The Enormous Radio by John Cheever we have the theme of privacy, secrecy, obsession, doubt, change and control. Set in an apartment building in 1940s New York the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed, omniscient narrator and has a suspenseful mood. Cheever succeeding in drawing the reader further into the […]

In the short story Intimacy by Raymond Carver we have the theme of memory, struggle, letting go and closure. Taken from his Elephant and Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and though the reader never learns the name of the narrator, very early on in the […]