Perspectives

Literary period

The short story “Graveyard Shift” by James M. Reasoner was published in 1978. The text contains some modernist characteristics. First, the story does not follow a traditional plot structure. There is no falling action, and the climax is followed by a plot twist, which reveals the main character’s motives and which surprises readers. Furthermore, it features a main character who is to some extent unreliable and makes use of informal language, which are also traits associated with some modernist writers.   

Works with the same theme or in the same genre

The theme of revenge is also explored by writer Pippa Gough in her short story “The Journey to the Brothers’ Farm”. In the story, a woman who is sexually assaulted by a man as a teenager later gets her revenge by e...