The author of short fiction must be extremely economical in the choice of words and images. There is little space for nonessential commentary in a short story. One must therefore assume that in Dostoevsky’s short story ‘‘The Heavenly Christmas Tree,’’ there are no wasted words or images; everything is significant. Given that Dostoevsky devotes a…
Tag: Analysis
Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment – Analysis – Moral Lesson
There are different ways to appreciate a story like Hawthorne’s ‘‘Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.’’ It is often read as a story about growing old gracefully, a message that is buoyed up by the creepy elements that make the story interesting. On the other hand, the fact that it is written by one of the great names…
A Day Goes By by Luigi Pirandello – Allegory – Explained
Luigi Pirandello’s short story ‘‘A Day Goes By’’ is considered to be an allegory of a man’s life. How do we know, however, that the story is not real? Until the very end, when the main character ages overnight, nothing completely implausible occurs. And one could argue that the character has been old all along—when…
Beware of the Dog by Roald Dahl – Analysis – Meaning
Oddly, considering that it is among the most influential of Dahl’s stories, ‘‘Beware of the Dog’’ has received little critical attention. It was originally published in the October 1944 issue of Harper’s magazine and reprinted in Dahl’s 1945 critically appraised short story collection Over to , an anthology of seven previously published and three new…
The Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie – Analysis – Play
At first glance, there is little in ‘‘The Witness for the Prosecution’’ that cries out for a stage adaptation. The story is largely about plot, strategy, and perception. It has very little in the way of dramatic action, save for one scene—and even that is severely abridged, lessening its impact. When comparing the original to…
With All Flags Flying – Analysis
Anne Tyler’s popular short story ‘‘With All Flags Flying’’ gracefully explores a number of themes in the tale of eighty-two-year-old Mr. Carpenter. One major idea, underscored by symbolism found in the story, is the concept of freedom and the need to be as independent as possible. Carpenter wants to be as free and independent at…
With All Flags Flying – Literary Devices
Setting The setting is the time, place, and culture in which the narrative’s action takes place. In ‘‘With All Flags Flying,’’ the setting is contemporary time (the early 1970s) in Baltimore and Baltimore County. Many of Tyler’s works take place in Baltimore, where the author has made her home for many years. She draws on…
The Treasure of Lemon Brown – Analysis – Essay
In Walter Dean Myers: A Literary Companion, critic Mary Ellen Snodgrass refers to ‘‘The Treasure of Lemon Brown’’ as an exemplum. This Latin word literally means ‘‘example.’’ In literature it is used to describe a story that one uses to make a point about morality. In medieval times, a priest might use an exemplum within…
Tears of Autumn by Yoshiko Uchida – Analysis
‘‘The test of a round character,’’ asserts British writer E. M. Forster in Aspects of the Novel ‘‘is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way. If it never surprises, it is flat.’’ Forster, himself a novelist, raises an interesting question. ‘‘Round characters’’ may be the ones that surprise, engage, and convince fiction…
A Retrieved Reformation – Essay
In this paper, I shall attempt to illustrate situational dramaturgy at work in an early twentieth-century play, Armstrong’s Alias Jimmy Valentine (premi `ered at the Studebaker Theater, Chicago, 25 December 1909), and the film adaptation of it directed by Maurice Tourneur for World Film in 1915. Armstrong’s play derives from a short story by O….