The Story Lab 2016 – Blog Post One

Our First week back in classes consisted discussion surrounding that of Short Stories. As an avid reader and writer, I found the notion of the topic particularly interesting, despite the fact that I have never before paid particular attention the the style of writing.

Having examined Ronald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the Slaughter“, it was interesting to perceive points that Brander Mathews stated in his book, “The philosophy of the Short Story,” being put into practice. For example, Matthews states that a “short-story deals with a single character, a single event (and a) single emotion” (Matthews, 1901). In the Lamb to the Slaughter, this is recognised, as while a number of characters feature throughout the story, it is central to one woman alone – Mary Maloney. Mrs Maloney continues on to demonstrate Matthew’s “single event” notion, as the short story revolves around the action of Mary committing her husbands murder and covering it up. There are no other events that feature throughout the story, it is simply a tale of a woman committing a crime and getting away with murder – literally. It is as Mathews states; a short story cannot “…be seen as an episode or a chapter out of a novel – it can’t be see as unfinished or apart of something bigger – it has to impress the reader with the belief that it would be spoiled it it were larger, or it it were incorporates into more elaborate work” (Matthews, 1901). While the novelist in me questions whether any writer at all can truely leave a reader fully satisfied (there will always be what if’s, how’s and why’s, both from a reader and a writer), I will admit that I did feel a sense of satisfaction, a sense of finality at the end of Dahl’s story, as Mrs Maloney feeds her murder weapon to the very people that should be arresting her. While the story is seemingly wrapped up in a tight little bow, it is with the final line of the story; “And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle”, that leads the reader to believe that Mrs Maloney had in fact got away with her crime, and that the reader can finish knowing that there are no other questions to be asked of the tale or characters, that their time in this fictional world has come to an end.

However, I cannot help but question whether it was because the short story (and short stories, I find in general) lacked substance or integrate plot lines with dynamic and changing characters. Did I only feel satisfaction because I didn’t get to know the characters well enough – and ultimately, didn’t really care about them? In no way am I shaming The Lamb to the Slaughter – in actual fact, I rather enjoyed it. As Matthews states a short story should be, it was ‘concise and compressed’, a quick and witty tale. But even as I sit writing this, I question whether my views are raised simply because I have never ventured passed my world of novels, which have space to hold twisting and turning plot lines, and the time to travel across thousands of pages of numerous books.

While Matthew’s reading was an insightful and rather enjoyable read, I do recall a clashing of our opinions occurring. Throughout his book, Matthews speaks greatly of the difference between a Novel and a Short Story, doing his best to differ the two. He states “…the difference between a novel and a short story is …  is something other and something more than a mere story which is short. A true short story differs from the novel chiefly in its essential unity of impression” (Matthews, 1901). It is hard to argue here – this is mere fact. However, it was Matthew’s tendency to shun the novel, to claim the short story is, in a manner, superior, a more complicated and harder form of writing to partake in. While I am aware of the complicated act short story writing can be, I must also point out that writing a novel is no easy task either. And, in no way, would I put one before the other in forms of greatness or difficulty. While they are similar, they are not the same, each an art form in their own right, requiring a different skill set to complete.

To finish my post this week, I decided to include one of my own short stories (as this week has got me thinking  about the short stories I have come across). I will include the adapted version of “The Star Thrower” by Loren Eiseley (1907 -1977), titled: “The Starfish Story: One steps towards changing the world.” 

“Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!””

R E F E R E N C E S 

• Brander Matthews, The Philosophy of the Short-story, 1901, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.
• Events For Change. 2011. June 5, 2011 The Starfish Story: one step towards changing the world. [ONLINE] Available at: https://eventsforchange.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-starfish-story-one-step-towards-changing-the-world/. [Accessed 05 March 16].
• Roald Dahl, ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ (originally published in Harper’s Magazine, September 1953), http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html