“Half a Day”
This very short story manages to encompass—allegorically—and entire lifetime. And that lifetime is symbolically played out in the time it takes for the grandson to spend the day at school. Between his arrival and his leaving, the boy experiences the entirety of maturation. Thus, the school itself is a symbol of the life experience.
“By a Person Unknown”
The one thing you can usually count on in a story about a serial killer is discovering the identity of the killer. Not revealing the killer of a single victim is common enough. Even withholding identification in a story of a murder spree has been known to happen. But rare indeed is the creative writer willing to test the patience of an audience invested in multiple murders going unsolved. Such is the case in this story in which the cops not never come close catching their man, but become victims themselves. Because, of course, the serial killer is symbolic: he’s the inescapable specter of Death mysteriously killing us all before moving to the next.
“The Norwegian Rat”
The title species is really the main character of this story, yet never actually makes a physical appearance. They are talked about—obsessed over, really—and settle more comfortable in the minds of the tenants at the heart of the story than in the actual building they live in. It is a story of how fear intensified into paranoia and the rats themselves are symbolic of all those things which people are made to fear at an irrational level by the influence of other people.
“At the Bus Stop”
The title location in this story is occupied by a group of people who witness a continually escalating series of violent and horrific event which a nearby policeman completely ignores. The story comes to an unexpectedly grisly end with the policeman finally taking action by opening his revolver upon those who themselves remained inactive in the face of a world begging for help. The symbolism is clear: the bus stop is humanity in a society so calloused by modernity that apathy seems the only safe response.
“A Cup of Tea”
The tea-drinking protagonist of this story is the centerpiece of its allegorical structure. The story itself is simple and bare bones, offering little in the way of character development. This is a clue to its allegorical nature and the fact that the tea drinker is intended less as an individual than as a symbol of Egypt itself.
