1)The Long Exile
This literary piece is entitled ‘’The Long Exile’’ by Leo Tolstoy translated from Spanish. The following story depicts defaults in the judicial system while also evoking unfairness of life in playing with people’s fates. The general ambiance of the story is dramatic or more likely tragic whilst the dominating theme is injustice and death ‘’ Makar Semyonich confessed his guilt. But when the order for his release came, Aksionov was already dead.’’. In addition, the tone of the author is more likely to be considered serious in his description of events thus having a neutral overview of things ‘’ But his voice was broken, his face pale, and he trembled with fear as though he were guilty.’’ Also, the events take place in numerous places such as: a town, a motel and a prison. Now, let us contemplate a brief summary of the story that exposes the primordial events of the plot:
Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov was but a mere pleasant merchant who was about to embark a placid ordinary journey to the fair in order to do some business and enrich his commerce. Upon his departure his wife had ominously warned him of a presentiment she was having or more likely a dream in which he returned from the fair endowed with grey hair, she distinguished this to be appalling sign to which he must heed attention. However, he showed no importance to his wife's apprehensions and went on promising her to return with gifts and new wealth. During his journey our protagonist encountered a fellow merchant whom he had tea with and shared a room in a local inn. As dawn broke, Aksionov decided to continue his quest while the day was still young and without saluting his compatriot. After a while, his chariot halted for a rest, our here played with his guitar to pass the time. Suddenly, a troika accompanied by a policeman and two soldiers appeared and began questioning the lad about his identity and his whereabouts that previous night, not short after the man is taken into custody under the pretence of having murdered his comrade with whom he had shared the room .Also, they found a blood stained knife in his belongings this directly linking him to the crime at hand. Aksionov was diverted to jail where his wife exerted prodigious effort in order to meet with him in hope of clarifying the situation. However, under the stress and confusion he was in our hero could not appear guiltier; his wife then wept and left him with her children in her arms. 26 years of imprisonment and mine work have transformed Aksionov face into one of an old man with grey hair , he has become quite a religious man and has put his faith and trust in God. He is known as 'Grandpa' for the wisdom and sagacity he evokes, thus he is also considered a peacemaker between convicts whom often seek his advice and teaching. As new comers arrived to the prison the convicts gathered to acquaint them and discover the criminal charges that brought them here, out of the bunch stood out Makar a man from Vladimir, Aksionov home town. Hence forth, the old man began questioning him if he knew anything about his family; they turned out to be wealthy and well. However, Aksionov began to suspect that it was Makar the one whom had framed him and killed the merchant. Our hero avoided contact with his rival whom had caused him insomnia and worry. A while after, he discovered a tunnel Makar was building in order to escape, he threatened to kill him if he rated him out. Days after, the secret tunnel was uncovered and they began questioning inmates about the felon but none would admit. When the turn came for Aksionov to answer and denounce the man who has been the cause of his agony and suffering he did not give in into the dark thoughts and destine his compatriot to torture like he once did to him. At this surprising mercy Makar went to see old Aksionov in his cell and confessed to the crime he had committed whilst begging him for forgiveness! Although our protagonist showed no interest in this amenable act Makar later on confessed to the court and pleaded guilty in hope of acquiring freedom for his victim, but it was too late had already passed away and embarked on a new journey to a better place.
2)One of these days
The following short story is known under the name of ‘one of these days’ written by Garcia Markez , translated from Spanish. The main topic that the events emphasize is corruption and dishonesty within the governmental stature of ‘mayor’ whom is the symbol of malfeasance! In fact, the doctor is likely to be symbolic of the people’s outrage when he deliberately makes the mayor suffer and justifies his rage when he says “Now you’ll pay for our twenty dead men.’’ while the mayor highlights his sins when the doctor where he should send the bill either to his estate or the city and he replies ‘’they’re both the same damn thing’’. Evidentially, the narrator’s tone is very ambiguous and withholding mystery. In brief, the events take place in the doctor’s office, here’s a meagre summary of the plot:
Aurelio Escovar a dentist lacking a degree in his profession was opening up his dental office at 6 in the morning. The protagonist spent several hours simply cleaning and preparing his work equipment in order for them to be ready in case a client enters the premises. His concentration while performing his preparation routine was cut off by his eleven year old son’s voice. The young lad informed his father that the town’s mayor was waiting outside demanding the man pull out his tooth, the dentist refused and told his offspring to inform the official that he is not here. However, the boy told his father that the mayor can hear his voice and is conscious that the doctor is present in the office! Once again the dentist refuses to meet with the patient but this time his son answers by notifying him that the mayor ominously threatened to kill the dentist of he does not meet with him at once. After contemplating the situation the dentist opened the office drawer where a gun was placed and allowed the patient to enter and after perceiving the traits off anguish and agony drawn over the mayor’s face due to excruciating pain caused by his tooth he determined that he was not a menace thus he closed the drawer. Not long after, the mayor was placed on a chair while the doctor carried the sterilized instruments in order to perform the retraction of the rotten tooth. Furthermore, the dentist whom seemed to look at the mayor in a supercilious manner stated that he shall not bestow him with anaesthesia thus he will be indulged with unbearable and piercing pain as the doctor told him "Now you'll pay for our twenty dead men." whilst extracting ruthlessly the mayor’s tooth hence rendering him to tears. After culminating the operation, the mayor then told him to send him the bill, upon this request the dentist asked wither to send it to him or to the town, the client then informs him abruptly that it makes no difference, it’s the same situation in both cases; it’s the same money.
3)The Necklace
'The Necklace' is the entitlement of the famous French Guy de Maupassant’s short story that has been studied in schools in deference to his unique writing style and the story’s originality. This version was translated from French. In fact, the oeuvre depicts several social issues such as poverty; its impediments and restraints, dreams, ambitions, integrity and most of all the upheaving consequences of avoiding the truth. However, the dominant theme is an exposition of the ‘badness’ of lying. The tone of the story at first is bright, full of ambition and life but as the story reaches its climax and the woman loses something valuable and her life begins to change so does the tone which becomes melancholic and full of anguish as the narrator’s describes the woman’s dreadful slavish lifestyle. The events take place in a variety of locations, and the plot can be resumed I the following:
Mathelide, was a poor woman whose only dreams were like all women to lead a fanciful and lavish lifestyle full of enjoyment and beauty ‘’ She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans’’. However, these dreams were shattered when she married a simple clerk in the ministry of Education whom could only afford to offer her a respectful life excluded of luxury and fantasy. Her domicile was rather humble but her spouse worked hard and intensely to provide her with a decent life and social status. In contrast, the wife was greedy and was never appeased with what she had, her ambitions were much higher, she dreamed of marrying a wealthy man who would drown her with money and jewellery whilst making her one of society’s most prestigious woman, but dreams shall remain dreams. Despite, her deprived state of being she remained a graceful and elegant woman in her own unique manner. One day, she received the surprise other life, her husband proffered her an invitation to party and the minister of Education’s palace, this off course meant she could finally have her Cinderella night, a night where she would become a beautiful swan instead of an ugly duckling. However, to his surprise M.Loise found his wife melancholic claiming that she has nothing fancy to wear. Hence, the husband was willing to sacrifice money he saved for something he yearned in exchange for his wife’s happiness and contentment; she could now buy a new dress. In order to complete her transition she decide to barrow some jewellery from Mme Forestier her friend, she ended up taking an extravagant diamond necklace which was only reserved for princesses like her. The woman’s excitement and joy reached its climax as she entered the party feeling, for the first time, like the confident stunning woman she truly is. To be brief, she had a wondrous time in the party laughing, dancing, drinking and being admired. When the fairy-tale was over and the woman returned to her placid home and began taking off her cloth she remarked that the necklace was no longer around her neck. Panic, chaos and disaster could barely describe her state and the state of her husband when they found out they had lost the valuable object. Now, they faced no other option but to buy Mme.Forstier an identical replacement necklace, which they found in a jewellery store at a prodigious price but found no option but to buy even thought she could never afford it! After 10 years of labour, slavery, suffering, sacrifice and hard work the Loisels were able to finally pay off their debts that were used to pay for the necklace. Mme.Loisel was no old, grumpy and rendered ugly by years of hard work and destitute. By accident, Mme.Forstier encountered the woman who could barely be recognized in comparison to her former young beautiful image, she then told her that they had bought her a genuine diamond necklace while her old one was just a cheap imitation. Oh the irony?
4)The Lottery
This particular story is known under the title of ’’the lottery’’ redacted by the renounced author Shirley Jackson. In fact, this literary oeuvre depicts very prominent such as: The absurdity of following obscene traditions, the famous village lottery ends in an annual violent murder, an eccentric ritual that emphasizes the foolhardiness and perils of blindly following traditions passed on my ancestors. Another eminent theme underlined by the short story would be the randomness of persecution, the victims are chosen by pure luck and chance, and the individuals are not guilty of any crime, offense or transgression other than having drawn a simple slip of paper that shall decide the end of their journey. We can note the use of the ‘foreshadowing’ technique to underline that something was going on ‘’children began gathering stones in the square’’ although it was hardly remarkable due to the placid and optimistic tone with which the narrator spoke which made it seem like a usual prosaic lottery as normal as any other.
On the 27th of June the villagers of a small town gathered in the town square in order to attend the lottery. Seeing as the population is composed of a meagre number of 300 individuals the lottery only takes 2 hours. Every single family in town was there all waiting patiently to draw from the lottery box. Mr .Summers and Mr.Graves were in charge of this traditional event, they were assigned an old shabby box that they refused to replace in deference to it being a part of their ‘’tradition’’ even thought this was not the original box whom was list many years ago. Mr. Summers did, however, convince the villagers to replace the traditional wood chips with slips of paper. Also, in order to preclude any mayhem they lock up the box in Mr.Summer’s coal company for safety. Prior to the beginning of the lottery both officials write down on a list all the families that reside in the villages. As Tessie Hutchinson joins the celebration she notices that she is late due to her forgetfulness of the event’s taking place, she then casually goes and joins her husband and children in the crowd. As the events starts they double check that everyone in the village is present, after being assured they begin. They being by reminding everyone the simple rules of the lottery, each family head shall come up and withdraw a paper. While the drawing takes place, Mr.Adams tells Old Man Warner that other villages have been making their way to stop this tradition. However the Old Man protests claiming that it brought the villages that quitted horrible fates and discontent. After long issues with the drawings it is discovered that Tessie is the ‘winner of the lottery’, nevertheless she protests with fervour but has no alternative but to accept her faith. As people begin to round around Tessie with rocks at the palm of their hands they initiate celebrating her victory by throwing stones at her till she is rewarded by death.
5)The Cask of Amontillado
In this eccentric tale, which is named after a Spanish sherry wine ‘’the cask of Amontillado’’, the author Edgar Allen Poe presents the reader was an exceptional story with deep hidden morals within. The story is categorised as a Gothic terror like most of Poe’s literary work. The narrator’s tone is filled with indifference to the crime he was committing and we felt that he was rather distant. Furthermore, the author presents very prominent themes such as: Firstly, the existence of Love and Hatred within the same person, as we remark the narrator’s concurrent love of self in contrast to his hatred of his rival. This previous example emphasizes that love and hatred are two intimate feelings that co-exist suggests that they may simply be two forms of the most intense form of human emotion. To elaborate, Montresor is fond of him-self but while his ego and sense of hurt pride begin to nurture the hatred creates an alter ego of himself. Secondly, he depicts the existence of an Alter Ego within the protagonist as his foe threatens his sense of stable identity he gives in to his dark characteristics which were have arisen from their slumber to create an alternate person whom is the representation of his inner chaos and instability. Now let us contemplate on the author’s manner of presenting and supporting his opinions through the plot of the story:
The story presents the reader with two main protagonists; Montresor and Fortunato (meaning ‘fortunate’ in Italian), these two individuals are to be considered rivals. In fact, upon the start of the story Montresor whom also happens to be the narrator states that he has been vulgarly insulated by his compatriot Fortunato, he feels that his pride has been shattered by this rudeness of parole expressed by his acquaintance. In consequence, Montresor seeks to have revenge and regain his self-respect through the affliction of his enemy. However, he wishes to put himself in no eminent risk of being cough or too suffer from the retaliation of his foe, thus he shall act with high precautions to avoid all scourges. Montresor elaborated a guile plan in which he shall take advantage of his opponent’s weakness; his fondness of wine, which shall bring inevitably his demise. During the time of the carnival, Montresor disguised himself through wearing a black silk mask; under this pseudonym he approaches Fortunato whilst informing him that he has obtained liquor that is reproachable to Amontillado, a light sherry. In contrast, Fortunato is costumed as a jester whilst wearing a multi-coloured costume and a cone cap with bells. In order to lure Fortunato further in his scheme he tells him that he has no time to waste and that he shall ask a Luchesi to precept the flavour instead. Hence forth, Fortunato is foolishly drawn by this plot and rapidly claims that this adversary is incapable of differentiating Amontillado from others forms of sherry thus he accepts the task. Fortunato is now filled with fervour and excitement yearning to taste the wine and determine wither its Amontillado or not. Consequently , Fortunato suggests they go to Montresor’s whine cellar , everything is now falling into play like Montresor had planned, with his servants at the carnival he now has his enemy completely at his mercy. The two antagonists incline into the dank vaults. Due to the fact that the location was endowed with a powerful presence of nitre, Fortunato starts to cough. In order to appease the man’s illness the narrator suggests he drink wine as a medicine, and the victim inadvertently accepts the offer. As the men continue sightsee of the vaults they remark the corps of the Montresor family which are all buried here. Later on in the quest, Montresor claims he is an actually stonemason, however Fortunato claims he is joking and continues normally to walk with his ‘’friend’. As their journey comes to an end, the two men stand before four walls three of which are endowed with bones while the fourth’s are thrown down on the floor. On that particular wall their stood a recess in which Montrersor confirmed the Amontillado was being stored in. The prey now being notably drunk, he imprudently goes to search for the wine. Meanwhile, Montresor, with a swift movement of hand, chained Fortunato’s feet to a stone. Now, the quarry has been cough in the trap, Montresor begins to build a wall to the entrance, thereby trapping the poor man in it. The lad begins to scream desperately not being fully aware of what was happening. Nevertheless, once the alcohol’s effect wore off, screams of terror and fear filled the vault. Fortunato begs the narrator for mercy and forgiveness, but in vain. Montresor continued his task coldly, whilst his prey was pleading for compassion his last words being , just as Montresor is about to he concludes with a Latin phrase meaning “May he rest in peace.”
