Black dotted white stockings

Joyce was feeling on the top of the world. She had just bought a fantastic new white dotted black dress and a pair of black dotted white stockings she was going to wear at her friend’s graduation party the next day. It was already eight o’clock so she went back home to wash and have them ready in time.

At home, when she opened the shop bag, she realized that the stockings weren’t inside. She had probably forgotten them in the shop. Unfortunately it was too late to go back to the shop, so she decided to wash, dry and iron only the dress that night. She would go to the shop next morning at the opening time. She went to the laundry room on the basement floor where the washing machine and the tumble-dryer were. As soon as she got there she saw that the washing machine was on but no one was there. She got closer and looked through its window: a pair of black dotted white stockings were floating in the water. It was definitely the strangest thing that had happened to her.

Blackberries

It was a nice Sunday afternoon and Rob and Hannah were bored and didn’t want to watch TV or play games; so they decided to leave their cottage to have a walk in the nearby wood.

Rob was particularly nervous while Hannah seemed very relaxed but didn’t talk to him. She was getting on his nerves but he didn’t want to make a fuss. Suddenly she told him to keep on walking by himself because she wanted to pick up some blackberries for next day breakfast. They would meet later in the clearing near the big oak tree.

Once in the clearing Rob set under the oak tree and fell asleep. A loud bang made him wake up and his hair stand on end. He looked around and noticed that the Sun was setting and his wife wasn’t there yet. He stood up and began to look for Hannah, shouting her name. All of a sudden he saw a flashing light at the end of the path: he jumped out of his skin when he saw a big U.F.O. shining opposite him. He rushed back home looking for help. Fortunately he ran into a police patrol and informed them about what had just happened to him. The policemen couldn’t believe their ears, but when they followed Rob to the above mentioned place they couldn’t believe their eyes: a three metres tall U.F.O. was really there. They cautiously approached it and began to examine it. It was a real shock when a door began to open. They weren’t able to move or utter a single word. Their heart was in their mouth when some people wearing silver spacesuits appeared. They simultaneously took their helmets off and what they said was… «Happy birthday Rob!!!». He recognized his friends and his wife who told him: «Did you really believe I had forgotten such a special day?»

A Golden Cage

Emancipation: a Life Fable (by Kate Chopin)

Summary

There was once an animal that was born in a cage. An invisible hand looked after him providing for all his needs. The animal felt comfortable in his cage and grew up strong and handsome, but he was unaware of the world outside.

One day the door of his cage was opened accidentally. First the animal was scared and would have like to be able to close it, than, after several stays on the border of the cage, he rushed out of the cage with a jump. Paying no attention to the wounds on his sides, he saw, smelt and touched many things, the noxious ones too.

Out of the cage the animal had to seek and fight for food and water. So he decided to seeking, finding, enjoying himself and suffering because he preferred enjoying himself and suffering because he preferred freedom to comforts in a cage, a golden prison anyway.

This short story by Kate Chopin has got a title which anticipates its main theme and style as it is called “Emancipation: a life fable”. The reader immediately understands that the protagonist is going to “emancipate” his/her condition and the story will be told as a “fable”. Since the first lines we realize that you have a third-person narrator telling a story whose style is like an old-fashioned fable or fairy tale, as “There was once an animal(...)” reminds us the well-known “Once upon a time…”.

The protagonist, an unidentified male animal, is set in a well described place, a cage where all his needs are fulfilled by an “invisible protecting hand”. This make us understand that he is happy with his own little world. As in any fable we can compare his life to people’s ones living in their own happy microcosm. Anyway, our daily routine can be suddenly changed by accidental occurrences. When the animal finds the door of his cage opened he has to decide whether to stay or to leave. The former choice guarantees him a safe, comfortable life even if depending on “the hand’s” will, while the latter will oblige him to seek his own food and shelter day by day for the rest of his life. He chooses the second one because he wants to be free.

The moral we can draw from this fable is that freedom has its price. For instance, you realize you are not a teenager any longer when you have to make your own decision for your future life without counting or relying on anybody’s help, even if that means you have to give up some or all your previous comforts or advantages.