Four stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Four stories - Essay Example Carlson’s stories are from the heart and are peopled with such characters that seem to haunt those who identify with them. â€Å"A Kind of Flying† is vivid and colorful in its portrayal, even while many of them tickle your funny side. A part of his collection deals with the so called middle class lifestyles and the frustrations that goes with it making his audience reflect on their own life by trying to find the right solutions. Each of the following stories â€Å"Max†, â€Å"Hartwell†, â€Å"Keith† and â€Å"The Chromium Hook.† has a different theme. In â€Å"Max† the theme the author used was humor. In this short story Carlson depicts the goings on in a typical middle class family who has a dog called Max who had a peculiar habit of jabbing people in the wrong place. He does this not only to his owners but also to the visitors who come there. Though the story is quite short, yet it makes you laugh each time you think about. The story of â€Å"Hartwell† is one of the most endearing stories that I have read. In this story Carlson makes use of the theme of love, human emotions and feelings. The story that pulls at your heartstrings tells the story of a professor who dressed shabbily and did not have the zest for life. But when Lub blossoms between him and his favorite student Laurie, he becomes rejuvenated by her love and finds the real meaning of love. The success of the story lies in the author’s deft handling of the love theme giving hope to millions of people who encounter the same feelings at some point in their lives. In the short story â€Å"Keith† the author makes use of the same theme of love but in a completely different way. It deals with a â€Å"triangle love† shared by three people – Brian, Barbara Anderson and Keith. Though Barbara was friendly with Brian her boyfriend, yet she somehow falls deeply in love with her lab partner Keith who had cancer. The story ends on a sad note