Read-a-Thon

Short Stories

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Hills like white Elephants

By Ernest Heningway

Hills Like White Elephant starts with a description of the story’s setting in a train station surrounded by hills, fields, and trees in a valley in Spain. A man known as the American and his girlfriend, sit at a table outside the station, waiting for a train to Madrid. The man orders two beers. The girl remarks that the hills look like white elephants, the American responds that he’s never seen one.. They order more drinks, and the American mentions that he wants her to have the operation, although he never actually specifies what kind of operation. He seems agitated and tries to moderate the operation’s seriousness. He argues that the operation would be simple. The girl says nothing for a while, but then she asks what will happen after she’s had the operation. The man answers that things will be fine afterward, the girl dispassionately agrees with him. The American then claims that he won’t force her to have the operation but thinks it’s the best for both of them. She tells him that she will have the operation as long as he’ll still love her and they’ll be able to live happily together afterward. The man emphasizes how much he cares for the girl the Spanish bartender brings two more beers and tells them that the train is coming in five minutes.. After finishing their drinks, the American carries their bags to the platform and then walks back to the bar he asks the girl whether she feels better. She says she feels fine and that there is nothing wrong with her.

Throughout the story the American man is trying to convince his girlfriend to do the operation without specifying what kind of operation. But it is understood that it’s an abortion. On the other hand the white elephants symbolizes thing that no one wants. The girl’s comment in the beginning of the story that the surrounding hills look like white elephants seems to be a casual, remark, but it actually serves as a start for her and the American to discuss their baby and the possibility of having an abortion. The girl later retracts this comment with the observation that the hills don’t really look like white elephants, a hint that perhaps she wants to keep the baby after all.

Roman Fever

By Edith Wharton

The plot of the story begins by introducing two middle aged American women, Grace Ansley and Alida Slade. They are visiting Rome with their daughters, Barbra Ansley and Jenny Slade. The two women Alida and Grace grew up in Manhattan, New York and were friends from childhood. Mrs. Slade felt jealous of Mrs. Ansley because of a youthful romantic situation. Eventually Mrs. Slade reveals a secret about a letter written to Mrs Ansley on a visit to Rome many years ago. The letter was from Mrs. Slade’s fiancé, Delfin inviting Mr.s Ansley to a rendezvous at the Colosseum. In fact Mrs Slade is the one who wrote the letter in attempt to get Mrs. Ansley  by disappointing her with Delphin's absence. Mrs. Ansley is upset at this revelation, but reveals that she was not left alone at the Colosseums he responded to the letter, and Delphin arrived to meet her. Mrs. Slade eventually states that Mrs. Ansley should not feel sorry for her, because "I had Delphin for twenty-five years" while Mrs. Ansley had "nothing but a letter he didn't write." Mrs. Ansley responds, in the last sentence of the story, "I had Barbara." This means that Barbara is an illegitimate child she had with Delphin What makes it ironic is that the man did end up meeting her there, and that they had a child the girl who is more beautiful than the original's daughter.

the story takes place in the afternoon, in the city of Rome. One can learn that these two women are wealthy because they are staying at the colossum.

One can learn that the major aspects of this story are betrayal and deception.  “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” By William Blake

The turning point occurs when Mrs. Slade reveals what she knows about Mrs Ansley’s  night excursion at the Colosseum twenty five years before the rendezvous with Delphin. Some people may see the revealing that Mrs. Ansley’s daughter is the child of Mrs. Slade’s late husband as the climax. In this story the two protagonists are the two old women Mrs. Grace Ansley and Mrs. Alida Slade.

The bet

By Anton Chekhov

The Bet" is an 1889 short story by Anton Chekhov, The story starts when an unnamed banker recalls an autumn party he held fifteen years ago. The guests were discussing and arguing weather the capital punishment is more human than the life imprisonment. The banker argued that that death is better then life imprisonment while a young lawyer disagreed claiming that he would choose life in prison rather then death. So the banker offered two million dollars for anyone who could stay in prison for five years in solitary quarantine. The young lawyer during those fifteen years was provided by unlimited supply of what ever he wants: books, coffee, and everything else he wants. The only things that were deprived from him were access and communication to the outside world. He spends his time reading books and educating himself. In the mean time the banker’s fortune was decreasing and he realizes that if he pays the bet this will lead him to bankrupt. The banker tries to kill the lawyer as to not owe him money. However the banker find a note written by the lawyer. The note states that in his time of prison he has learned to despise material goods. Therefore he leaves the prison five hours before the bet would be up, thus loosing the bet.  Those fifteen years made this lawyer a sage, wise man.

“The Bet” emphasizes the idea that life of a human is more valuable than money.

The banker made a deal and the lawyer accepted it, at the end the lawyer looses the bet by staying in prison for fifteen years without violating the terms and conditions that were agreed before.

However the logical view states that the lawyer actually won the deal, he actually went out five hours before completing the fifteen hours, meaning that the lawyer broke out from prison and thus violated the contract and defeated the banker. Although the banker still won the deal since the lawyer escaped the five hours before the fixed time in consequences concluding that he couldn’t stay for fifteen hours and thus proving the banker’s right. One should look in the optimistic side of life.

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." Morrie Shwartz

Two Words

By Isabelle Allende

Two Words is a story by the well know author Isabelle Allende. The story takes place a long time ago, a woman named Belisa Crepusculario, is gifted with words, she is a verbose speaker, she goes around telling stories and poems. She also helps people write letters and spread news. One day the Colonel calls her, she knew later that he was a lonely man and everyone in the village feared him. She had no choice; she helped the colonel. He later made an amazing speech to become president. As a bonus, she tells the Colonel two secret words that only he knows. Later on the colonel keeps thinking and wondering about the two words and eventually it makes him go crazy. The colonel’s men soon realize that he is going crazy before he becomes president.  So they seek for the gifted woman to try to figure out what she said, however when the woman arrives, she and the colonel just look at each other lovingly and hold hands. The story ends without revealing the two mysterious words.

One can think if maybe the two words were “ Love you” but that doesn’t seem right. Perhaps the main goal the author tried to accomplish with the title of the story was to make us wonder what the actual two words are. The story did state that the two words were meant just for him. The author’s goal with the main character Belisa Crepusculario, was to remain her a mystery. The story is a complete enigma.

Furthermore I personally think that the theme of this short story is the self-reliance as the story states that the woman has a very difficult childhood in which she experienced so much loss in her life. She is forced to become a stronger person both mentally and physically to survive such circumstances.

The main character of this story is Belissa  Crepusculario, she is a round character as she difficulty during her childhood and then she relied on herself.

In conclusion I believe that the two words are love and change this because the Colonel is known as the most feared man and the loneliest man that desired love and change and she knew that if could change it could be through love.

The little match seller

By Hans Christan

The Little Match seller by Hans Christian Anderson, tells the story of a poor girl who tires to sell matches on a cold New Year’s Eve, She is freezing, but she is afraid to go home because her father will beat her for not bringing any money. She takes shelter and lights the matches to warm herself.  She sees lovely visions including a Christmas tree and a holiday through the windows of an apartment. The girl looks at the sky, sees a shooting star, and remembers her late grandmother saying that a falling star means someone died and is going into Heaven. When she lights her next match, she sees a vision of her grandmother, the only person who have truly loved her. She strikes one match after another to keep the vision of her grandmother for long as she can. The child dies and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, people find the dead child in the street. The story contains the combination of morality, danger and death.

There are many ways that one may look at this story and the message and morals. It might be told as a story about faith, and its importance in times of misfortune, as readers see the little girl battle with her current situation as her hope and faith pull her through. It may also be read as a story about poverty, the extreme measures taken (sending a little girl out on her own to sell matches in the freezing cold).The main character of this story is the little girl To sum up the moral of this story is that hope is internal. One mustn’t loose hope.