Interesting, meaningful, profound short fiction for a thought- provoking final response?

March 8, 2006 8:49 AM

a short story by a continental european writer that directly addresses or suggests conflicts within human nature-- the desire to perform "good" acts vs. our tendency (the temptation) to commit "evil" ones?

as a high school british lit. teacher, i always want to challenge students to compare/ contrast their ideas and perspectives with those suggested by the events and characters of the literature we cover; as part of one of our end- of- the year assessments, i would like to present them with a "fresh" piece to explore-- some work of short fiction that they've never encountered-- in order to challenge them to compare it with a work with which they've already dealt.

my overall goal is to allow them the chance to compare/ contrast their own perspectives on human nature with these two works.

it's ambitious but meaningful, i think.

what i'm looking for are some suggestions for the "fresh" piece.
what short pieces might allow them to confront such a challenge?

(and, in case you're interested, we've discussed these kinds of questions before with: "Macbeth" by Shakespeare, "The Fifth Child" by Doris Lessing, "Lord of the Flies" by W. Golding, and "1984" by Orwell...)

posted by ronv to education (10 comments total)

Something by Primo Levi?
posted by orthogonality at 8:51 AM on March 8, 2006

It's not a short story, but if you got them through "Lord of the Flies" this shouldn't be too much of a stretch as it's a pretty quick read.

"I'm Not Scared" by Niccolo Ammaniti.

It's Italian and was recently made into a movie if that helps as a secondary 'text' - although I haven't seen the adaptation so can't say how close it is to the novel.

It covers the ground you mention and while I don't want to give too much away it certainly deals with good and evil in an interesting way. Even if it's too long for your class I heartily recommend it as a damn good read.
posted by sizemore at 9:03 AM on March 8, 2006

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

A bit obvious and the link to Apocalypse Now might be a factor that keeps it from being thoroughly 'fresh'. I read it when I was in high school as part of the curriculum and it made a lasting impression on me. And as a film geek I was already a veteran of Apocalypse Now...
posted by slimepuppy at 9:13 AM on March 8, 2006

Hanif Kureishi?

I've only read "The Black Album" which is a fairly short novel about the conflict faced by a twenty-something Muslim trying to choose between right and wrong while getting "guidance" from family pressures, faith, and lust. And losing at most all of them.
posted by beelzbubba at 9:18 AM on March 8, 2006

Anton Checkhov has plenty of short stories that very quickly dive into murky moral territory.
posted by tkolar at 9:43 AM on March 8, 2006

I feel that there must be a Maupassant story that would fit this bill. His short stories are so perfectly compact and straightforward that they are great for high school discussions. "The Diamond Necklace" and "The Gamekeeper" are stories I remember well but may not fit exactly, but might work. Also it seems you can find a lot of his stories online.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 10:15 AM on March 8, 2006

Yeah, I was thinking of Maupassant, and "The Diamond Necklace" is a great example. Although written over 100 years ago, his stories still hold up well today.
posted by essexjan at 12:02 PM on March 8, 2006

I would second Chekhov; but, if you're willing to go a little longer than a short story, it seems to me that the perfect choice would be Notes From Underground.
posted by josh at 1:54 PM on March 8, 2006

thanks for the suggestions so far!
please keep them coming...

just a note: novellas (like "Heart of Darkness") are a no go.

students should be able to make the "fresh" text through in a single sitting...

again: thanks!
posted by ronv at 2:39 PM on March 8, 2006

Stumbled on this searching, glad it's still open. Here's a third for Chekhov; I'm in the middle of this collection and it's great. "Peasant Women" ("Peasant Wives" in some translations) sounds like it might work -- 12 pages exploring love, jealousy, cruelty and the small moments in a merchant family's daily life, forcing us at the end to wonder if two women really have cause for the murders they suddenly find themselves considering. "In Exile," a penetrating glance at life in Siberian exile and a few different reactions to it, is good, too, but my favorite so far is "Anna on the Neck," a brilliant look at the morally ambiguous choices a young woman makes to climb out of poverty and distance herself from her alcoholic father and uncaring husband. It has one of the most joyous scenes I've read in Chekhov as she finally blossoms, then ends in a darker mood that leaves lots of room for discussion.

Seriously, tkolar's right; this is classic Chekhov territory. He loves making you care about the people he puts at the edge of a moral abyss.
posted by mediareport at 9:19 PM on April 10, 2006