Barnes – Carver

Come to the Roof Garden, Maud (1914)Djuna Barnes Summary: random, no plot, rooftop garden, if it doesn't make sense, it's probably about come to roof garden, maud.

A Night Among the Horses (1923)Djuna BarnesSummary: a guy is tending to his horses and is explaining his feelings about society.

His wife is tormenting him and she wants him to joint he army and become a general, but he doesn't want to be anything higher than a common solider. There is a party and he gets drunk and lashes out at Freda. He thinks he doesn't belong in society and hates class (creates desire) he also gets trampled by horsesThemes: rebellion, society's standards,

Hills Like White Elephants (1927)Ernest Hemingway Summary: A man has a conversation with a girl named Jig who is pregnant and he is trying to convince her to get an abortion. He doesn't understand the importance of the baby and just wants to have fun and not be tied down. She wants to talk about the complexity, emotionally and morally.

She gives up when she says that the hills don't look like white elephants. The man says hes never seen a white elephant, which shows he can't relate to her. Themes: Relationship/connection, Negative view of males/abortion, emotional complexities

Snows of Kilimanjaro (1936)Ernest Hemingway Summary: a man is discussing his regrets of not becoming a writer and blames his wife because she is rich. He has several flashbacks that relate to love, sex, drinking, and war.

Kilimanjaro is a symbol of purity and truth. Harry dies on the plains rather than the cheetah on the white hilltop Themes: regrets, death, purity, ascension

Big Boy Leaves Home (1938)Richard Wright Summary: Four black children walk into a white man's creek. Wife thinks they are trying to rape her, man shoots two of the children, Big boy kills the man, they try to get Big boy out of town. They find Bobo, the other black child, and torture him and kill him. Themes: racism, misfortune, violence, moralistic

The Man Who Was Almost a Man (1961) Richard Wright Summary: A boy named Dave who works for Mr.

Hawkins and wants to buy a gun. He sees it as a symbol of power, but his parents are not supportive but still let him buy one. He accidentally kills Jenny, the mule and Mr. Hawkins says he has to work to pay it off. He ends up leaving. Themes: maturity, power, running away, growing up

The Lottery (1948) Shirley Jackson Summary: the lottery is a stoning process and Tessie Hutchinson gets stoned.

Themes: blind tradition, injust, society, change,

The Daemon Lover (1949)Shirley JacksonSummary: Narrator is mentally ill because she is about to marry her fiance but can't find him. She goes out to look, but people do not know if he exists. And old man and a small child point her to a an old house. Themes: mentally ill, society's standards, age

A Good Man is Hard to Find (1953) Flannery O'Connor Summary: A grandmother and her family are on a road trip, but the grandmother leads them astray and they face a criminal named the Misfit. He starts killing the family off and the grandmother prays and talks to him about Jesus. She then says, "you're one of my own" showing religion sincerity but he kills her.

Theme: Religion, purity, violence, enlightenment

Good Country People (1955) Flannery O'Connor Summary: Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell are talking and Hulga comes in and even though she has a Ph.D in philosophy, she has a heart condition and can't work. Manly visits and tries to sell bibles. They have a moment with Hulga and he steals her wooden leg and runs off with it.

She calls him a Christian. Theme: religion, distrust, negative view of Christianity, medically illnesses

Sonny's Blues (1957)James Baldwin Summary: An algebra teacher talks about how his brother Sonny was arrested for selling heroin. He hates that blacks have limited opportunities to succeed. He writes to Sonny in prison and they take him in when he is released. Music enters their lives and Sonny performs at a club and the narrator fully understands Sonny.

Themes: music, racism, society, empathy

The Magic Barrel (1954) Bernard Malamud Summary: Leo Finkle, a rabbi in training, wants to get married so he meets Salzman, a marriage broker. Leo meets Lily, but he reveals that the only reason he is becoming a rabbi is because he doesn't believe in God. Leo realizes h cannot find love and finds a picture of Salzman's daughter. She has been disowned because of a terrible act and he wants to meet her.

Salzman implies that Leo is dead because he is associated with Stella. Theme: age, society, religion, and family

Jewbird (1963) Bernard Malamud Summary: A bird enter the house of Cohen who is a rejectful Jew. He lets the bird stay, but hates it and the Jewbird, Mr. Schwartz improves his son's grades.

One bad day, he kills Mr. Schwartz and blames it on Anti-seemets, anti-Jews. Themes: religion, self-hate, superficial

Everyday Use (1973) Alice Walkker Summary: Mama and her daughter Maggie are expecting Dee, Mama's daughter. Dee was sent abroad because of her intellect and education. When she shows up, she is rebellious because she changed names and Dee finds a quilt that belonged to her grandmother.

It was for Maggie, but Maggie gives it to Dee. Mama says no and gives it to Maggie. Themes: envy (mama and Maggie to dee), change in society's view of African Americans, ancestry

Roselily (1973) Alice Walkker Summary: an African American is marrying a muslim for money, but she is unhappy and has a lot of children. She doesn't know if she wants to fully accept his image of what she has to become, Muslim faith and raising children.

All she wants to do is be free Themes: Gender roles, religion, freedom

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (1973) Ursula K. LeGuinSummary: There is a utilitarian society where everyone is happy and bliss. However, a child is being tortured at the cost of their happiness, if they let him go, they cannot be happy. They decide to leave to save the child.

Theme: morals, ethics, violence, society

Sur (1982)Ursula K. LeGuin Summary: is about woman's issues, woman group goes to Antarctica. Trip was supposed to be leaderless, but they made important decision. They split up to meet at the South Pole, but one of the woman ggot pregnant. They named the child Rose Del Sur.

The woman didn't get recognized for the trip till later. Themes: feminism, gender roles,

Porcupines at the University (1970)Donald Barthelme Summary: Dean of a University thinks these porcupines are trying to enroll in his school, but he doesn't have room. He uses a shotgon to deter them. Themes: not enrolling?

Some of Us Had Been Threatening our Friend Colby (1972) Donald BarthelmeSummary: Colby has crossed a line and his friends are trying to kill him, but its more like a wedding if anything.

Themes: lack of reason, wtf factor

The School (1976) Donald BarthelmeSummary: A school has terrible misfortunes and everything dies around them, starting with animals, then people. The children ask philosophical questions and ask the teacher to have sex to show them the real meaning of love. Theme: life, death

Cathedral (1981) Raymond CarverSummary: a husband is uncomfortable that his wife's friend is blind. However, he doesn't fit any of the sterotypes and is actually really smart.

It reveals that the narrator is actually the blind one. Theme: blindness, prejudices

What We Talk About (1981) Raymond CarverSummary: Four Friends talk about love. Mel is a heart doctor, but he only tends to disregard Terri's definition of love. Terri had a lover named Ed who was willing to die for her.

Themes: Love, tension, intelligence