Prose Fiction Selections

"Paul's Case," by Willa Cather. http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/authors/Cather/Pauls-Case.htm

Talk about modern alienation. Talk about a tragic vision. Students, I notice, tend to brush off Paul, condemning him for not finding something else to do than destroy himself. But if you ever felt totally trapped in your school, or your job, or your credit card debts for that matter, then you have come near what Paul must be feeling. Could anything be more deadening than the life he is trapped in? T. S. Eliot writes in "The Hollow Men" that the world ends "not with a bang, but a whimper." Paul at least has a moment when he can live the grand life. If you say "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," then isn't it also better that he had those few moments of grandeur? And, granted, now we'd just send him to a therapist, give him some Prozac and tell him to cope, but if you had no better prospect than to exist in a mean world the way he does, wouldn't you look for the exit?

"Araby," by James Joyce. http://eserver.org/fiction/araby.htm

Literature abounds with "rights of passage" stories wherein the young innocent is initiated into the real ways of the world. The un-named boy in "Araby" is one more romantic who must surrender his dreams. His revelation, his "epiphany" is not so philosophical as just realistic. Love is not easy. The quest is not always fulfilled.  Make more of this in comparison to Paul above or other characters among the stories below.  By the way, there is a paragraph--the third down in the story that describes the boys at play as the sun sets--that could be the best example of descriptive writing ever! Not only does it typify Joyce's own style, but it teaches by its example how to engage all the senses to recreate a moment. Gorgeous writing. Try a paragraph of your own in imitation of this style and you will be a more powerful writer!

 "A & P," John Updike.  http://www.tiger-town.com/whatnot/updike/  

You are going to read Antigone. You've got to sled along with either Joe or Ron in one or the other anti-war novel. But for heroes can anyone top Sammy for bravery in the face of danger? If  you saw your friend, family, peers or even some perfect strangers being mistreated, would you try to stick up for them (hormones aside)? "A & P" is a supermarket of moral dilemmas asking for your answers.

 "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson. http://www.americanliterature.com/SS/SS16.HTML

Oh, sure, you read this in high school. As likely this story was written off as some really odd ritual in some truly bizarre place and time. The teacher may have had the guts to ask you whether our military draft isn't just as much a "lottery" as the ritual in the story. Do soldiers sacrifice their lives in battle or are we just stoning them? Seems that people love to think "how sweet and honorable it is to die for your country." But, isn't it more that we require such sacrifices? Someone has to be picked. (Better them than you.) Of course, Ivan Karamazov refuses to participate in such rituals, whether civil or religious. He won't take the ticket. He won't even show up to draw the lot.

"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,"  by Ernest Hemingway.  http://www.cis.vt.edu/modernworld/d/hemingway.html#4    

It's said that when it comes to modern story writing, everyone wants to write like either James Joyce or Ernest Hemingway. You are reading one by each. The story by Hemingway is a perfect model of his style. (Or, try "The Killers.") Talk about the tragic vision in modern literature--what about that prayer to the nothingness? The essential questions here are about "dignity" and what one needs in life to feel life is still worth living. If you are young and have a wife/lover to run home to, then you can get through your work with something to look forward to. If there's nothing to do, no one who cares, not much left of your health, then what is there to live for?  If you are a patient in a nursing home and  you tell that to the house psychiatrist who visits patients, as likely that will trigger a psychiatric evaluation, a diagnosis of "suicidal" and some anti-depressants that leave you with a stupid grin. The old man's daughter may fear for his immortal soul but he doesn't particularly find comfort in religion. What is your own clean, well-lighted place?At any age we find a "happy place" (yes, just like Happy Gilmore) or a comfortable set of habits that help us cope. Where do you take refuge to console yourself and keep yourself going?

"The Cop and the Anthem" by O. Henry http://www.horizon.7p.com/SHORTSTORY1/story2/The%20Cop%20and%20the%20Anthem.htm and "The Gift of the Magi" http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html

Okay, I'm a sucker for a good O. Henry story. Yes, they are sentimental, but aren't they just perfect, trick ending and all? He's the master of this form. You can infer any serious theme that wish within them. I just thought it would be fun for you to read these!