“The Canebrake” - Mohammed Mrabet
The story is set up in a chronological order of events. This helps the reader to understand the transitions and changes in setting that the characters experience with clarity and reason. Convening at the cafe, buying dinner at the market and eating and drinking at Kacem’s home all make up a chronological order of events that this story consistently revisits. The beginning is important because we are able to establish that it’s a daily habit of Kacem’s to be so drunk that he is unable to love his wife. Without knowing this, the reader would not be able to understand why Kacem’s wife commits a sin with his friend Stito. The author purposely structured this story so that the reader would be all-knowing of the routine circumstances that initiated the affair at the end of the story.
“The House Behind” - Lydia Davis
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The separation in living complexes is symbolic of the discrimination and distance that both the rich and poor feel from one another. The story is based on the death of a rich women who was murdered while taking out her trash one evening. The author uses flashbacks of the tragedy at the complex as a way to help the readers understand the present tension that exists from all parties. For example, the silhouette that the narrator describes of the tenants awaiting their turn to take out the trash could hardly be understood without acknowledging the past that they feel haunted by. The setting stays consistent throughout the story but the atmosphere changes after the