Best Short Stories in American Literature

Best Short Stories in American Literature

English Literature

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Short stories are like small windows into different worlds. American writers have created some of the most powerful short stories ever written. These stories may be brief, but they leave a lasting impact on readers.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a chilling tale told by a killer who insists he isn’t crazy. The story follows the narrator as he plans and carries out the murder of an old man, simply because he hates the man’s “vulture-like” eye. After hiding the body under the floorboards, the killer begins to hear the dead man’s heart beating. The sound grows louder until the killer, overcome with guilt, confesses his crime to the police.

What makes this story great is how it puts us inside the mind of someone who is clearly unstable but believes he is perfectly rational. The beating heart represents the killer’s guilty conscience. In just a few pages, Poe creates a powerful study of guilt and madness using simple but effective storytelling techniques.

“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry (1905)

O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” tells the story of a young married couple, Jim and Della, who are very poor but deeply in love. Christmas is coming, and each wants to buy a special gift for the other. Della sells her beautiful long hair to buy Jim a chain for his prized pocket watch. Meanwhile, Jim sells his watch to buy Della decorative combs for her hair.

When they exchange gifts, they realize that their sacrifices have made their gifts useless. Yet O. Henry shows us that their willingness to give up their most valued possessions proves the depth of their love. This simple tale about sacrifice and love has become one of the most beloved Christmas stories in American literature.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)

This disturbing story is told through the journal entries of a woman whose husband (a doctor) has confined her to an upstairs bedroom to cure her “temporary nervous depression.” The woman becomes obsessed with the room’s ugly yellow wallpaper and begins to see a woman trapped behind its pattern.

As the story progresses, the narrator’s mental health worsens, and she becomes convinced she must free the woman in the wallpaper. By the end, she has completely lost touch with reality. Gilman wrote this story based on her own experience with a “rest cure” prescribed for her depression. The story powerfully criticizes how women were treated by the medical establishment in the 19th century and the lack of autonomy they had in their own lives.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (1948)

“The Lottery” begins as a description of an annual tradition in a small, seemingly normal American town. The villagers gather, families draw slips of paper, and initially the atmosphere feels festive. Only gradually do we realize that they are selecting someone to be stoned to death as part of a harvest ritual.

The shocking ending forces readers to think about how traditions can lead people to commit terrible acts. When first published in The New Yorker, the story caused outrage among readers. Today, it’s considered a masterpiece that shows how ordinary people can participate in evil when it’s sanctioned by society. Jackson tells this disturbing tale in simple, straightforward language that makes its impact even stronger.

“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway (1927)

This story consists almost entirely of a conversation between a man and a woman waiting for a train in Spain. They never directly mention the real topic of their discussion – whether the woman should have an abortion. Hemingway’s famous “iceberg theory” is on full display here, with the most important parts of the story hidden beneath the surface.

The story’s power comes from what remains unsaid. The couple’s strained dialogue reveals the man’s selfishness and the woman’s reluctance. The white hills in the distance represent the unborn child – like a “white elephant,” unwanted by at least one of the parents. In just a few pages of dialogue, Hemingway creates a complex portrait of a relationship in crisis.

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor (1953)

This story follows a family road trip that ends in tragedy when they encounter an escaped criminal called The Misfit. The grandmother, a self-centered woman obsessed with being a “lady,” inadvertently leads the family to their doom when she recognizes The Misfit, causing him to feel he must kill them all.

O’Connor uses shocking violence to explore themes of grace and redemption. In her final moments, as The Misfit is about to kill her, the grandmother has a moment of clarity where she reaches out to him and says, “You’re one of my own children.” This gesture of connection represents the possibility of grace even in the darkest circumstances. O’Connor’s unique blend of the grotesque and the spiritual makes this story unforgettable.

“Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville (1853)

This story is told by a Wall Street lawyer who hires a strange man named Bartleby as a copyist. At first, Bartleby works well, but then he begins refusing to perform certain tasks, always with the same polite phrase: “I would prefer not to.” Eventually, Bartleby stops working altogether and refuses to leave the office.

The lawyer’s attempts to deal with Bartleby’s passive resistance form the core of the story. Bartleby’s famous line has become a symbol of passive resistance to authority. The story can be read as a critique of modern work life, an exploration of depression, or even an existential statement about the meaninglessness of routine tasks. Bartleby’s quiet refusal to participate in normal society raises questions that still resonate today.

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien (1990)

The title story of O’Brien’s famous collection about the Vietnam War begins by listing the physical items that soldiers carried: weapons, supplies, personal items. It then moves to the emotional burdens they carried: fear, love, grief. Through these details, O’Brien creates a moving portrait of young men at war.

The story blurs the line between fiction and memoir, as O’Brien (who served in Vietnam) creates fictional characters who feel utterly real. By focusing on specific objects and memories, he conveys the larger experience of the war. The story shows how soldiers used these physical objects to maintain connections to their normal lives while in an abnormal situation.

“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)

This gothic tale begins with an unnamed narrator visiting his childhood friend, Roderick Usher, who has requested his company during an illness. The Usher mansion is gloomy and cracked, seeming to reflect the declining mental state of its inhabitants. Roderick’s twin sister Madeline is also ill, and when she apparently dies, they bury her in the family vault.

Days later, during a storm, Madeline appears at Roderick’s door, bloody from her struggle to escape the tomb. She falls upon her brother, and both die. As the narrator flees, the house itself splits apart and sinks into the lake. Poe creates an atmosphere of dread and inevitability, suggesting that the house and its inhabitants are connected in some supernatural way. The story explores themes of isolation, fear, and the power of the mind to affect physical reality.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin (1894)

In this very short story, Louise Mallard learns that her husband has died in a train accident. She retreats to her room alone, where instead of only grief, she feels a growing sense of freedom and joy. She realizes that, despite loving her husband sometimes, she will now have a life of her own: “Free! Body and soul free!”

When Louise finally leaves her room, her husband suddenly appears at the door, very much alive—there had been a mistake. Louise immediately dies, and doctors say it was from “joy that kills.” Readers understand the bitter irony: she died from the shock of losing her newfound freedom. In just a few pages, Chopin delivers a powerful statement about marriage and women’s independence in the 19th century.

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner (1930)

This story is told from the perspective of the townspeople of Jefferson, Mississippi, who observe the strange life of Emily Grierson, the last member of a once-great Southern family. After her controlling father dies, Emily becomes increasingly isolated and eccentric. She briefly dates a Northern man named Homer Barron, who then disappears.

When Emily dies years later, the townspeople enter her sealed upstairs bedroom and discover Homer’s decomposed body in the bed. Next to him is an indentation in the pillow and a long strand of Emily’s gray hair, indicating she had been sleeping with the corpse. Faulkner tells the story in a non-linear way, gradually revealing Emily’s horrifying secret. The story explores themes of tradition, change, and the decay of the Old South.

“Cathedral” by Raymond Carver (1981)

The narrator of “Cathedral” is unhappy about his wife’s blind friend, Robert, coming to visit. The narrator has never known a blind person and feels uncomfortable with the idea. During the visit, the men watch a TV program about cathedrals. When Robert asks the narrator to describe a cathedral, he finds he cannot do it well.

Robert suggests they draw one together, with the blind man’s hand over the narrator’s. With eyes closed, the narrator draws and experiences a moment of connection and insight that changes his perspective. Carver’s simple, direct style perfectly captures this transformative moment of empathy and understanding.

What Makes These Stories Great

These American short stories have lasted because they:

  1. Tell universal truths about human nature, society, and relationships
  2. Create memorable characters who feel real in just a few pages
  3. Use language effectively, whether simple and direct like Hemingway or rich and complex like Faulkner
  4. Leave room for interpretation, allowing readers to find new meanings with each reading
  5. Capture important aspects of American experience, from small-town traditions to war experiences
  6. Create powerful emotions in a compact form

The best short stories prove that a great writer doesn’t need hundreds of pages to create lasting characters and meaningful stories. In just a few thousand words, these American writers have created worlds that continue to move readers today.

Whether you’re new to American literature or a longtime fan, these stories offer rich rewards. They show us truths about ourselves and our society in ways that are sometimes beautiful, sometimes disturbing, but always memorable.

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