Short Stories Notes

The Pieces of Silver - Karl Sealy

The story:
Begins as the school bell is rung and the boys line up in the playing field for inspection by their teachers.
An assembly is called where Mr. Chase, asks for contributions to the retiring head, Mr. Megahey’s, present.
The boys give their contributions, although many are poor and their families cannot afford it. The boys who do not contribute are brought up onto the stage and humiliated by being marked with a white X on their foreheads. If they do not contribute to the collection the following day they will suffer further humiliation.
Clement, who is one of the boys singled out by Mr. Chase, goes home to his family to ask for some money. His father refuses, however, because they are poor and need all the money they have for themselves.
Evelina is Clement’s sister; they are close and she cares for her brother like a mother. She supports him by suggesting that they go singing to raise some money. They do this and raise a decent sum of money. The last house they call at is a pretentious red brick building which turns out to be the home of the retiring headteacher, Mr. Megahey. He gives them a generous donation of sixpence, their biggest of the night.
The next day at school Mr. Chase eyes the boy’s bowed heads’ as they stand on the platform in anticipation of further humiliating them. To his surprise, Clement presents eight pieces of silver to him saying ‘there is one for each of us’. The final impression we are left with is one of hope and triumph.
***
The action of this story covers twenty-four hours in the life of Clement Dovecot.
Themes:
• poverty
• family relationships
• the cruelty of officials
• unfairness
• suffering and hardship
• education/pupil/teacher relationships
Language:
• the use of contrast – different characters/settings
• irony
• simile and metaphor
• adjectives/verb phrases
Key terms:
• dialogue
• irony
• contrast
• characterisation
• dialect/non-standard English
• rhetorical questions
The plot – conflicts and twists:
• Clement has to stand on the platform in assembly, with a cross drawn on his forehead, and is made to recite a speech on ingratitude in front of 400 pupils.
• In view of this you should consider:
• Mr. Chase’s treatment of Clement
• the idea of forcing children to give money for the Headmaster’s leaving present
• the reasons why Clement is unable to make a contribution
• The irony of a boy like Clement giving money to a man like Mr. Megahey Impressions of Clement’s school:
• Boys reluctant to attend and scared of punishment
• the teachers are self-important and badly educated
• the pupils are drilled as if they are in the army
• the discipline is violent and unfair
• the teachers enjoy humiliating their pupils
Impressions of Clement’s home:
• his family has very little to eat
• their home is tiny and run down
• they have very little money to spend and they make do
• Evelina was unable to carry on with her schooling
Characters – what are they like?
Mr. Chase:
• he is ‘stout and pompous’
• the smaller boys ‘straightened and stiffened under his cold gaze’
• when he sings he emits ‘an untrue, faltering note’
• he is ‘fierce-eyed and unsmiling’
• he threatens the boys with the ‘lash’
• he enjoys making the ‘hapless boys the laughing stock of their schoolfriends’
Evelina:
• ‘close bond of understanding and companionship’
• Clement feels the ‘cheering warmth of her arms’
• she listens to him ‘as attentively as a mother’
• she puts her lips down to his ‘harsh curls’
• her voice is ‘clear and true’
• she let out the laughter ‘welling inside her’
• ‘Now I going to tell you how we’ll fix that brute’
Links with other stories:
• the presentation of Anna in ‘The Winter Oak.
• the effects of poverty and attitude of the family in ‘The Red Ball.


The Red Ball - Ismith Khan

The story:
The Red Ball is about Bolan, a young boy who moved to Port of Spain, (Trinidad), with his parents.
The story begins with Bolan sitting in Woodford Square on his own. Some other boys ask him to play cricket. Bolen hesitates at first but then he accepts the offer to join in the game in the park. When everyone agrees that Bolan is a good player they ask him to play with them again the following day; Bolan feels that he has been accepted by the boys.
Bolen takes money from his dad to buy a cricket ball which he uses to play cricket with his friends. Bolen is happy that he has become part of the group. However, Bolen’s family is very poor and his father beats him for taking the money. This is one of the themes of the story – poverty. Bolen’s mother explains to his father why he took the money and Bolen’s father apologies to him. He does this in his own unique way by going to Bolen in the middle of the night and telling him that he loves him.
* * *
The story is presented to us almost entirely from Bolan’s point of view. However, in line 286 we are given his mother’s point of view; this gives us insight into her character and her understanding of her son.

Themes:
• poverty and hardship – the suffering which poverty brings.
• feeling left out – the need to belong.
• adjusting to new situations – the difficulty of adapting to a new home.
• parents and children (love and conflict) – the need to be loved and appreciated; the differences between fathers and mothers.
Language:
• extreme poverty suggested through dialogue – conversations about money, the names Bolan is called, Bolan’s admiration for the cricket set, descriptions of living conditions.
• negative verbs/adjectives that suggest unhappiness
• contrast – between unhappiness and joy. i.e. the grace and power of Bolan’s bowling.
• symbolism (the use of one thing to represent another) – the use of the green statue at the start of the story which we are reminded of at the end.
• detailed descriptions
• similes
Key terms:
• symbolism
• imagery
• personification
• characterisation
• contrast
• antithesis
• point of view
• alliteration
• repetition Characters – what are they like?
Bolan:
• lonely - He watches the boys playing cricket every night.
• dignified - He refuses to answer to the names the boys give him.
• sensitive -He touches the powerful-looking statue.
• proud - He refuses free black pudding.
• desperate – he takes the money to buy the red ball.
• generous – he pays for black pudding for the boys.
Bolan’s mother:
• defends her son strongly.
• stands up to her husband and stops him
• a loving and protective mother.
• she knows Bolan is unhappy in the city.
• is in strong contrast to Bolan’s father.
Bolan’s father:
• a drunken and violent bully.
• he is just as miserable as Bolan.
• he is embarrassed by his poverty and lack of education.
• has his family’s best interests at heart – he has moved to Port of Spain for their sake.
• proud of the honest reputation of his family.
• hard working.
• worries about money and feels a sense of failure.
• loves his son but finds it hard to show his feelings.
Links with other stories:
• Games at Twilight – the presentation of childhood, feeling left out and the feelings of the children.
• The Pieces of Silver – poverty and the feelings of children.

The Young Couple – Ruth Prawer-Jhabvala

The story:
The story begins happy when Cathy and Naraian go to India. They are hopeful and have plans for the future. They want to be dependent and not live in the family home. They see life in India as a challenge and they are envied by all their friends. However, the seeds of discontent have already been sown as we see Cathy’s role as being a traditional one with her staying at home while her husband goes out to work. We also see the beginning of ‘the family’s’ influence.
The couple enjoy a varied and exciting social life which revolves around Naraian’s friends. For Naraian this is nothing new; it is simply an extension of the life he enjoyed while he was single when he and his friends used to sit around discussing politics and other issues surrounding the country.
Cathy soon begins to tire of this life. Naraian’s behaviour with her begins to change and he is less affectionate towards her, particularly when he’s with his friends. The friends irritate Cathy and we become aware of the difference in culture that Cathy has to get used to. The men in India are not used to treating women as equals socially. They are polite to her but no more than that, and Cathy finds this difficult. The irony is that she sees it as an insult whereas the men are simply showing her the respect they would give any woman in her position. This shows how behaviour expected in one country is completely different to that expected in another country.
Naraian does not notice because he is used to it. He also treats Cathy differently to when they were in England. He is less affectionate in public and criticises her for the way she dresses, especially if he considers it inappropriate. These things irritate Cathy no end and as all the original excitement she felt wears off she begins to feel trapped. Naraian’s family do not help the situation. They see themselves as a modern and progressive family and the fact that they have accepted Cathy into the family proves this, but they still like to maintain control on their son’s life and despite his independence they still have a strong influence on the decisions he makes.
Every Sunday Cathy and Naraian go to the family home for lunch and there is usually and argument about Naraian living away from the family home and him not being involved in the family business.
Cathy starts to feel oppressed and claustrophobic in a way that she never felt in England. Their relationship begins to deteriorate. They start to bicker and Naraian is dissatisfied with Cathy’s housekeeping.
Cathy’s pregnancy is the turning point in the story and the point at which the family start to take control. Cathy allows them to do this and takes part in family ceremonies. The next stage is Naraian’s acceptance of a job with the family which Cathy doesn’t know about. Cathy’s misery is shown when she closes her eyes she can see the family in her mind. Naraian becomes frustrated and less tolerant of Cathy. He has failed in his dream to be independent and has had to compromise. Cathy knows she will be out-witted in any protests against the family and so she goes along with everything to keep the peace.
The family is presented to us as powerful. We see the family as being intrusive, yet they are only doing what they think is right. Despite this, Cathy and Naraian still love each other. They realise that it doesn’t matter where they live as long as they are together. At the end of the story the couple kiss passionately but even as they embrace we get the impression that Cathy is still not happy. She is trapped in an claustrophobic existence with this family because of her love for Naraian. At the end it is still Cathy who has had to accept the change, not her husband.
* * *
Most of the story is told from Cathy’s point of view. We share her feelings and sympathise with her. This includes Cathy’s standpoint as an outsider and builds suspense in that information is withheld from us as well as Cathy.
Themes:
• family relationships
• culture clash
• love
• power
• money
Language:
• powerful descriptions–food, the parents, furniture.
• powerful imagery, especially water imagery
• metaphor
• vocabulary choices
Key terms:
irony/reversal/twist/contrast/point of view/imagery/symbolism/repetition/characterisation Characters:
Cathy: independent; determined; loving; ungrateful; discontented.
Naraian: idealistic; determined; loving; weak; dependent; selfish.
Naraian’s parents: interfering; possessive; bossy; devoted; generous; unselfish.

Links with other stories:
The Red Ball – family relationships
Games at Twilight – feeling left out in a strange place


Leela’s Friend – R.K. Narayan

The story:
The story begins when the Sivasanker family hire a servant called Sidda. Sidda is a likeable boy who gets on well with the family and becomes particular friends with Leela, the daughter. Sidda and Leela play together and after a while they become close.
One day the family notices that Leela’s necklace has gone missing. After some thought they realise that Sidda must be to blame and the mother accuses him of stealing the piece of jewellery. She is so convinced of his blame that she even tells the police what he has done.
Sidda is arrested and charged with theft even though there is no proof of him having done anything wrong. Leela is very upset. She doesn’t care about the necklace. She just wants her friend back so they can carry on playing the way they used to.
Sometime later Leela finds her necklace hidden in a pot. She tells her family what has happened and everyone realises that Sidda is not a thief after all. However, the story ends without Sidda receiving an apology.

Themes:
• family relationships
• prejudice
• poverty and class divisions
• unfairness
• the cruelty of officials
Key terms:
• Irony
• Reversal/twist
• Contrast
• Point of view
• Characterisation
• Hyperbole
• Dialogue Characters:
Sidda:
• he is vague about his previous employer
• he makes false claims about the moon and misleads Leela
• he is uneducated and illiterate
• he is guilty at the mention of the chain and then runs away
• Mrs. Sivasanker thinks of him as a ‘villain’
• he has a criminal record for stealing jewellery from children
• the inspector calls him a ‘devil’
• Mrs. Sivasanker calls him ‘a rough fellow’
Leela’s parents:
• they are generous with their daughter – they give her a gold chain
• they give her many things – books, crayons, a companion to play with
• they are concerned for the safety of their daughter
Leela:
• spoilt
• thoughtless
• bossy
• naïve
Links with other stories:
Pieces of Silver – Injustice and poverty
Games at Twilight – childhood experiences


Games at Twilight – Anita Desai

The story:
At the beginning of the story it is a very hot day and all the children are confined indoors. The language used conveys the sense of restriction and claustrophobia they are experiencing and the impatience of childhood is effectively conveyed to us through the choice of verbs the writer uses.
The children are finally allowed to play outside because the mother is also feeling the heat of the day and can no longer struggle against the children when they are wailing so horrendously. Most parents would give in under such insistence; they know they are being manoeuvred and yet give in for a quiet life.
The children’s behaviour when let loose is typical of children anywhere. This gives us some idea of the relief that they felt at escaping their confinement. The main business of their day is play. This reminds us that play is a serious business to children. They decide to play hide and seek. This game is played everywhere all over the world and the way the children behave is also universal. They argue about who should be ‘it’ and when the playful fighting gets more serious we are reminded of how we have all at some time in our lives been told that it ‘will all end in tears’.
As in any group there is always a peacemaker, in this case, Mira. She is the oldest sister. She splits them up and makes the play fair by splitting the group up and deciding who should be ‘it’ by chanting a count down sequence. In this we feel the intensity of such games and in the way children behave. Raghu still protests, however, accusing the other children of cheating and again, we see this as typical children’s behaviour.
The children are selfish. ‘Small Manu’ is left behind and we feel his loneliness at being the youngest. He is undecided and cannot make up his mind where to hide. We share his panic and fear and empathise with him at being caught so quickly.
The behaviour of the oldest, Raghu also strikes a chord and we understand what it is also like to be the older child who treats the younger ones with disdain in order to assert their authority. He wants to strike fear.
Much of the story concerns Ravi. Again we can identify with the way he behaves whatever our background. We are given images of Ravi’s sense of smallness as he tries to decide where to hide and his inferiority. He sees himself as a small burrowing animal seeking security in his hole. He also compares himself to his older brother who he clearly admires. He admires Raghu’s skill as a footballer and envies him in the way that any younger boy would see his older brother as a role model. However, his smallness is also conveyed; we sense his dejection, the way he cannot reach things and the way he hides amongst discarded household items as if he has been thrown away as a lower form of life.
When he realises that he isn’t going to be eaten alive we see his confidence grow and experience his delight in success and the mix of exhilaration and fear that we all experience in childhood, whatever country we live in. Ravi has a vivid imagination and this also typifies childhood. His fear is snakes, a fear universal to all mankind regardless of whether or not you happen to live in a country where snakes abound. Children everywhere terrify themselves with their vivid imaginations.
Once Ravi has survived these fears he imagines what it would feel like to be the winner. We see the fantasies that children build up around an imagined success. This is a natural defence mechanism against smallness and unimportance. He imagines himself as the centre of attention, surrounded by older children and we see the universality of this.
When Ravi realises that he has forgotten one of the most important rules of the game his sense of smallness sets in again. He feels frustrated and disappointed with himself. He ends up behaving like the baby he was trying so hard not to be.
His reception by the adults and the other children make him realise how ordinary he is. The game is over and he hadn’t even been missed. He feels that when he was hidden it was as if he didn’t even exist. No one gave him any thought at all. The enormity of this smallness and lack of importance overwhelms him.
At the end of the story Ravi refuses to join in the game even though the others try to include him. He is too proud. It is not a game he likes and is too much of a contrast to the triumph he had hoped for.
The final sentence in the story effectively conveys his misery. However, despite the fact that he is miserable he is no longer crying. We know that Ravi has grown up and we can all identify with this situation with an experience of our own that makes us do that. Once more we see why childhood experience in this story is so universal.
Themes:
• family relationships
• death
• feeling left out
• growing-up
• achievement or disappointment
Language:
• detailed descriptions
• images of life, death, violence and time
Key terms:
Irony/reversal/twist/contrast/point of view/characterisation
/symbolism/repetition Characters:
There are many children in this story – brothers, sisters and cousins – and there is a clear hierarchy as the children compete for attention.
Main children – Ravi, Raghu, Mira, Manu.
Links with other stories:
• Leela’s Friend – the presentation of childhood
• The Red Ball – the presentation of childhood games and the boy’s feelings

The Winter Oak – Yuri Nagibin.

The story:
It starts when Anna Vasilevna begins her lesson and greets the pupils. Her attitude towards the children is firm but respectful; there is a friendly atmosphere in the classroom.
She begins work immediately and has clearly grown in confidence as a teacher since last year when she was new and unsure of herself. Her voice is calm and she seems to be enjoying her job.
She realises that one of her pupils, Savushkin, is not in the room and when he walks in late we see that her reaction is one of disappointment rather than annoyance. His lateness reminds her of similar occasions when he has behaved in this way and this, in turn, causes her to think of similar complaints she has had about the boy from the geography mistress. Anna Vasilevna appears to be critical of this older woman’s classroom discipline and the content of her lessons. This shows us that Anna is quick to judge people and feels very self-assured about her own skills as a teacher.
Anna’s lesson is about naming nouns; the children appear confident and quickly move from naming things they are immediately familiar with to those outside the classroom. They name things like, ‘wheel’, tractor, and well’. This tells us something about the agricultural environment in which the children live. Eventually they start naming things in the wider world and Anna’s encouragement in this again shows us her skill as a teacher in developing their confidence.
It is at this point that Savushkin, (who has been quiet), appears to wake up out of a dream to offer his contribution of ‘winter oak’. The rest of the class respond with laughter, but Anna is intrigued by his response, noticing the passion with which he spoke which was unlike the other children. By the end of the story Anna Vasilevna has more understanding of what this tree means to Savushkin. In the meantime she must correct him as he has also used an adjective in his answer and she does this politely asking Savushkin to see her at break.
During this conversation we learn more about Anna. She is exasperated with Savushkin when he cannot give a straight answer to any of her questions and she is more concerned with his correct use of grammar than what the boy is actually saying. However, we are also shown how concerned she is about her pupils when she offers to visit Savushkin at home.
From the moment they enter the wood Anna Vasilevna takes on a different role. She begins to discover a whole new world – the world of nature – and her response becomes one of excitement and wonder and child-like enthusiasm. When she makes an incorrect observation it is Savushkin who corrects her and she realises that in the forest it is she who is the pupil and Savushkin the teacher. When Anna sees the ‘winter oak’ she continues to be delighted by the world revealed to her by her pupil and her interest increases.
It is Savushkin who reminds her of their appointment with his mother and she is quickly brought back into her role as teacher. She realises how she has been ‘taken in’ by her experience and reminds Savushkin that the route through the forest is clearly not the quickest one. It is at this point that she has her moment of truth and realisation. She reflects on her lessons in the classroom and realises how ‘dry’ they are and how she needs to look at the beauty and richness of the wider world in order to bring new meaning to them.
At the beginning of the story Anna Vasilevna was feeling pleased and slightly self-satisfied about her skills as a teacher and was even critical of other teachers in the school. She now realises that she has a lot more to learn and her understanding of the children reaches a new level.
She thanks Savushkin for the walk and assures him that he can continue to use the pathway as a route into school. When she loos at the ‘winter oak’ for the last time she realises that the most amazing thing in the forest is not the tree itself but the small human being at the foot of it – Savushkin. She has learnt a powerful lesson about the children she teaches – that they are wonderful, future citizens of the world.
* * *
The plot appears to be based on the conflict between a dedicated teacher and a difficult pupil. However, the plot changes direction in the forest section.
Themes:
Prejudice, poverty, education, unfairness, the cruelty of officials, a culture clash
Language:
vivid descriptions, imagery, personification – of the forest, symbolism, dramatic short sentences, onomatopoeia, metaphor, alliteration

Key terms:
irony/contrast/point of view/characterisation/symbolism/
personification/dialogue
Characters:
Anna Vasilevna:
hard-working, dedicated, serious about teaching
young, inexperienced, quick to judge
Savushkin:
Polite, self-assured, confident, different – he belongs to the world of nature, observant, understanding, modest, protective

Links with other stories;
The Pieces of Silver – education
Games at Twilight – Innocence of Children
The Young Couple – the change in Cathy’s character