WHAT MAKES A SHORT STORY

A SHORT STORY?
D.M. Reyes

ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY

ITS NOT THE PROSE.

Non-fiction also uses prose.

Some stories have been
written as poems. (e.g.
Vikram Seths The Golden
Gate)

ITS NOT MAINLY THE PEOPLE IN IT.

At least 1 short story
(Ray Bradburys There Will
Come Soft Rains) has no
characters in it.

NOT SOLELY THE SETTING

Yes, a story requires grounding in time and
space

But even poems and essays do

ITS THE CONFLICT THAT MAKES A STORY.

L
O
W
F
I
S
H

W
a
n
g
R
e
n
s
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u

He learnt about this from someone and

decided to make the move.

Somehow he got a basket of blowfish

and carried it home quietly.

Three successive years of disastrous

harvest left him with barely enough
grain to pay the landowner and little to
feed his family of five. It had been
excruciatingly difficult for him, all
alone, to pull the family through from
last winter to early spring. Now, all
that was left was hunger.

But how could he let his family suffer

hunger?

When his family saw him back with

a full basket, they all jumped for
joy, as if he were an angel.

The kids met him at the door, half

dancing.

Pop, Pop! What is it? Lets eat

it!

At this tears welled up in his eyes.

Eat, he mumbled, terrified by his

own voice, terrified for the lives of
his kids; his heart nearly froze.

He told his wife to cook the

fish and then left on the
pretext of an errand. Not
that he didnt want to die
himself, but that he didnt
want to watch with his own
eyes how his family would
die. So he wanted to stay
away for the time being.

It was well past noon and he

was still not back. The kids
had been pleading with their
mother for the fish.

Now, his wife, who had been through a lot with

him and loved him dearly, would never let the kids
eat or taste anything before he had the first bite.

By the time the sun began to set in the west, the

blowfish was still being cooked in the wok. It was
then that he came back home, as if walking on air,
dreading each step, his mind filled with pictures of
his family, all dead, sprawled here and there.

Remembering his resolve to

end the familys suffering, he
quickened his steps. Even
from a distance he could see
the glistening eyes of his
children waiting outside; then
he heard a chorus of their
voices welcoming him home.

Why, not dead yet? he

thought aloud softly.

Pop! Weve been waiting for

you to eat together!

Oh! He now knew.

The family scrambled to the table

and ate with gusto. They hadnt
had any fish for so long and every
tiny bite tasted delicious.
Afterwards, he lay in bed quietly
and soon fell asleep, waiting for
the Dark Angel of Death to
descend.

The blowfish, however, had been

cooked for so long its poison had
all disappeared. So the family
lived and would have to suffer
hunger again, day by day.

He woke up and sighed: Why is

it so hard even to ask for death?
And tears welled in his eyes.

CONFLICT PUTS 2 FORCES TO SLUG IT OUT.

A very hungry family

A basket of deadly
blowfish

TYPES OF CONFLICT

Thing versus thing

Man versus something

Man against an enemy

Man against himself

Man versus something

The farmer going against hunger

A limiting primal condition that could trump
even the most determined people

CONFLICT MEANS
THERES SOMETHING AT STAKE.
To beat the hunger

But more seriously, to get rid of a pressing
burden

CONFLICT TILTS THE BALANCE.

All alive

soon wiped out

THERE ARE MANY WAYS

OF SETTING UP CONFLICT.
Everyone gets sick and dies.

They devour each other.

The wife sells her kids and
runs away.

Wife goes mad, chops up
the kids, and turns them to
Chinese buns.

PRESUMABLY, THE WRITER GOES

FOR THE BEST CHOICE.
Wang Renshu chooses
the blowfish

The writers donne

The unalterable given or
basic assumptions of the
story

THE READER IS THRILLED

BY JUST OR DUBIOUS WAYS
OF WINNING THE GAME.
A caring husband/father

A very frightening and treacherous man

CONFLICT COVERS ACTION AND OUTLOOK.

The farmer brings home some blowfish

To farm people, the blowfish seems safe

Hard times and hunger warp the mans mind

The blowfish serves as his sly murder
instrument

ACTION AND OUTLOOK REVEAL MOTIVATION.

The farmers unbroken hard luck

A sense of weariness and defeat

His flagging sense of duty

Worn out concern

Exhausting hardship takes a toll on his sanity

CONFLICT CREATES HEROES AND VILLAINS.

A scheming farmer

Innocent wife and children

Protagonists and antagonists

CONFLICT PEAKS TO A CLIMAX.

The cowardly farmer runs away

The dutiful wife takes over

The dinner is postponed

The hungry children set aside their hunger to
wait and wait

THE CLIMAX IS THE FIGHT AT ITS HEIGHT.

A matter of best moves

The build-up drags the runaway man back to
the sceneto the field of the great

His best move was to run away

On the other hand, his wife is a miracle
worker

She is also a square peg

CONFLICT LEADS TO A RESOLUTION.

Nobody dies

Back to the start

LOGIC RESTORES THE BALANCE.

The wife with homely skills

She turns something awful into something
edible

She waits dutifully for her husband

She has a well-placed sense of right and wrong

Her homely skills save the day

THE RESOLUTION IS
A CRUCIAL WINDOW TO CHARACTER.
The seemingly simple woman is clever and
skilled

The unknowing characters beat the odds

The wifes sense of right and wrong are in
place

Its not my cooking that

will kill us but your
shameless schemes.

Die from your own
poison if you must.

A MAJOR, MAJOR CHARACTER

MAKES SENSE OF THE RESTORED BALANCE.
The farmer does.

Its his story.

The relief that he is asking for is unearned.

He is miserablewithout wits, shame, or
dignity.

He knows this, at least.

Right from the start, the wife was never the
loser.

A SUMMARY OF KEYWORDS

Conflict

Action & outlook

Motivation

Protagonists &
antagonists

Climax

Resolution

Illumination