Half Skinned Steer, The by Annie Proulx~ Short Stories

[JoanP]

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Short Stories - Some SeniorLearn Favorites - JUNE 1 til mid JULY

It is said that a good short story should include: * a strong theme, * a fascinating plot, * a fitting structure, * unforgettable characters, * a well-chosen setting, * an appealing style.  Let's consider these elements as we discuss the following stories.  Is it necessary to include them all in a successful story? 
 

Notice that the titles are all links to the stories.

Discussion Schedule:
June 1 -June 9: *The Book of The Funny Smells--and Everything (1872) by Eleanor H Abbott *The Necklace or The Diamond Necklace (1880) -  by Guy de Maupassant
  *A Pair of Silk Stockings (1896) by Kate Chopin
June 10- 14: *Babylon Revisited (1931) by F.Scott Fitzgerald
June 15- 17: *First Confession (1939) by Frank O'Connor
June 18-20: *A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1953) by Flannery O'Connor 
June 21-24: *The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (1973) by Ursula LeGuin
June 25-28: *The Half-skinned Steer (1997) by Annie Proulx
 June 29-July 2:*The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro

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The Half-Skinned Steer by Annie Proulx

- Annie Proulx has twice won the O. Henry Prize for the year's best short story. In 1998, she won for "Brokeback Mountain" which had appeared in The New Yorker in 1997. Proulx won again the following year for "The Mud Below," which appeared in The New Yorker in 1999. Annie Proulx’s  The Half-Skinned Steer was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in November 1997.  This story also inspired her to write Close Range: Wyoming Stories (1999), in which "The Half-Skinned Steer"  was included as the lead story and was  selected by author Garrison Keillor for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories in 1998.  By the time it was published, Proulx was already famous for another collection of short stories and three novels, including The Shipping News (1993), which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.  Proulx has noted that  The Half-Skinned Steer is "based on an old Icelandic folktale, 'Porgeir's Bull,'  with themes of revenge which demonstrate how 'old' thinking can slow progress and resurrect long-forgotten grievances." She  adapts this idea in "The Half-Skinned Steer" to show how behaviours, grievances, and lack of persistence in our ancestors can also be inherited and "dragged around."

Topics for Consideration

June 25 - June 28

 

1.  The author tells us that she has adapted this story from an Icelandic folktale, which demonstrates how ancestors' behaviours and lack of persistance can be inherited and dragged around."  Do you understand why Mero must drag the guilt for Tin Head's behaviour so many years before?  Do you remember Tin Head's relationship to Mero and his brother, Rollo? 2. Why is Mero returning now that his brother has died?  Were they close?  What is he expecting to find?  Does he seem to want to settle unfinished business? 3. If the steer is a symbol, what does he symbolize?  Roaming around like this - not seen again...until Mero returns.   Do you see a parallel between Mero and the Steer? 4.  Do we need to consider Tin Head's part in the story?  He never finishes a job, only skins the steer halfway.  Is the fact that he removed the steer's tongue significant?  Is the half-completed job the reason for the steer's outrage and determination for revenge? 5.   Have you decided whether Mero ever did back it back to funeral...or is his situation too overwhelming to overcome?   DL Contact: JoanP

[JoanP]

Has Mero been searching for "home" ever since he left?

[BarbStAubrey]

You have to wonder if she is taking a cue from Cormac McCarthy who has accolades and accolades for being our best writer and all his stories are far rougher than the stories written by Annie Proulx.