Long Story Short: On the Importance of Short Stories

Have you ever wanted to write a cultural commentary on something? Maybe you weren’t sure of a way to put your feelings eloquently enough or perhaps you wanted to be subtle about the point you were attempting to get across but weren’t sure how to go about it. Well, whether your intentions are blatant and subjective or subtle and discrete there are examples all throughout literature.

“Diary of a Madman” is a short story by Chinese author Lu Xun. It’s main focus is on the diary entries of a man who seems to be going crazy. Suddenly, he sees everyone as being cannibalistic and out to get him.

“Man of La Mancha” is a short story by Taiwanese author Chu T'Ien-Hsin. It centers around a main character who after a fall seems to have developed a sudden obsession with death and in particular, how he might be thought of if one day he were to be found dead on the street.

Both stories focus on subject that are taboo and were especially taboo during the time that they were written. While the context of Man of La Mancha seems rather blatant in its focus, the context behind Diary of a Madman is rather subtle in its telling and perhaps could even be viewed as a metaphor for something else entirely, indeed one where the company is mad rather than the main character as the audience grows to think.

Summaries aside, both short stories prove that man is capable of amazing works be it subtle ones or not so subtle. It also shows that the short story platform is an excellent way to get a point across be it political like in Diary of a Madman or taboo like in Man of La Mancha.

Short stories have taken the modern world by storm, often showing up in anthologies such as Because You Love to Hate Me, a short story collection that focuses on the villains rather than the typical modern day hero or heroine but the ideas in short stories do not always have to be short to get their point across. There are plenty of modern day tellings that have some sociopolitical path to tread, for example, The Hate You Give, a story by Angie Thomas that tackles the Black Lives Matter Movement with taste and emotion.

If both Lu Xun and Chu T’ien-hsin were alive today I’m sure they would look upon the modern-day world of the short story, of the story in general with pride. Their artform has lived on.