Perspectives

Literary perspectives

The short story “Red Christmas” by Paula Morris has several elements of postmodernist fiction. 

One of them is the stream of consciousness technique used in the storytelling. The focus on the main character’s thought process, which is often vague, and the flashbacks that shift the story from the present to the past, are…

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Works with the same theme

The story “Son of Satan” by Charles Bukowski also deals with child abuse. In the story, the father regularly beats his son, just like the McGregor children are regularly abused by their mother. While in “Red Christmas”, the children appear to be resigned to the abuse, and even keeping the secret to protect their mother, in “Son of Satan”, the boy swears to his father that he will kill him when he gets older. 

The story “The Quiet” by Carys Davies also deals with domestic abuse. While in “Red Christmas”, the children are abused by their mother, in “The Quiet”, Henry and Susan are abused by their spouses. While in “Red Christmas”, it is implied that the abuse will go on, in “The Quiet”, Susan decides at the end to act to stop the abuse from happening. 

The short story “Chokra” by Numair A. Choudhury presents the theme of poverty and how extreme poverty can affect children. Just as Ani and her brothers are sent to look through trash, the main character in “Chokra”, a six-year-old boy, is sent to beg together with his three-year-old sist…