Title
Author
Main characters
Issues/themes
Short summary
Title
Author
Main characters
Issues/themes
Short summary
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
Atticus Finch, Scout,
Boo Radley, Jem,
Ewells (Myella, Somethingnasty)
Town Drunk
Racism, Justice, Injustice, Judgement, Judiciation
Atticus defends black dude in racist court case. Boo Radley is a good guy, misjudged.
The children believe what they are told by society (sheeple).
Romeo & Juliet
William Shakespeare
Romeo Montague, Juliet Capulet, Mercutio, Tybalt, the Friar, Paris, Nurse,
apothecary
naïveté, Young Lust (youth and), impulsiveness, deep family feuds, one always
desires that which is unobtanium
Romeo meets Juliet at a party. Stuff happens, they fall in love in 2-3 days, they both
kill themselves after Romeo kills someone else. The families make up.
Title
Author
Main characters
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The Odyssey (that it was an Epic)
Homer
Odysseus, Penelope, Athena, Zeus, Polyphemus, Circe, Lotus Eaters, Sirens
Journeys, adventures, hubris, Don’t Piss Off the Gods, das 7 sins
Odysseus leaves after fall of Troy, gets lost on the way home. He nearly dies a
multitude of times, everyone else dies, and he arrives home to a ton of his wife’s
“suitors”
Title
Author
Main characters
Issues/themes
Short summary
Oedipus Rex
Sophocles
Oedipus, his mother, his father, the Oracle, The Sphinx
incest, the inescapability of fate,
Basically, he ditches his son, his son comes back and kills him, his son comes back
and kills him only to marry his wife. His son defeats the Sphinx before the marrying
of his mother. When his son finds out he tears his eyes out. The oracle DID warn
him. Just saying.
Title
Author
Main characters
Issues/themes
Short summary
East of Eden
John Steinbeck
Cathy/Kate, Catherine, Adam, Caleb, Aron, Charles, Abra
Cain & Abel, Bible, identity
Cain and Abel is repeated thrice as an allegory. Cathy changes muchly while
retaining her affinity for prostitution and abortion. And manipulation. And murder.
And suicide.
Title
The Good Earth
Author
Pearl S. Buck
Main characters
Lotus, Olan (wife) (big feet), Wang Lung, daughter & 3 sons
Issues/themes
Opium, Viva la Revolucio’n, greed, saving or wasting, Starvation v Gluttony
Short summary
Poor man is given a wife. They slowly become richer, then get poor and move to the
city and are poor. After a while they move home to get rich, then for a long time they get richer and richer
and he buys a concubine -> ugly because opium. Their children start growing up and the revolution
moves through their house (stays for a bit). The children become much spoilt. Wang keeps moving to new
women (housekeepers). End.
Title
Author
Main characters
Issues/themes
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Poisonwood Bible (D.A.B)
Barbara Kingsolver
The pastor’s family (wife and 4 daughters) Leah, Ruth May, Rachel, Adah, Nathan,
Orleanna
Religion, inefficiency of missionary work
Missionary family moves to Africa, learns that their way of life and beliefs DON’T
WORK in Africa. Then they all split up to live different ways in different places in
Africa, adapting to their life to different degrees.
Title
Author
Main characters
Issues/themes
Short summary
Night
Eli Weisel
Eli, his father, Beedle, The Holocaust, violin dude, vague work together interest
the horrors of the Holocaust, perseverance, survival, hope, Religion and belief
Eli’s town is taken to Auschwitz, train ride is awful, they are abused at the camp, etc.,
running through the snow, dad dies, they are eventually freed, he is never the same
again.
Title
Author
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Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
Okonkwo, Ikemefuna, Ekwife, Ezinma, Nwoye (Isaac)
Religion, Africa, “civilization,” submission of women
Okonkwo is a prominent member of the town in Africa, with many cowries, wives
and yams. He kills Ikemefuna, then falls out of grace upon accidentally killing a
villager. When he comes back, the white men have taken over the town and its
inhabitants have an entirely subverted culture. Okonkwo hangs himself.
Title
Author
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Animal Farm
George Orwell
Snowball, Napoleon, Boxer, Squealer, Clover, Molly, Mr. Jones, Old Major, Pilkington
Communism, satire, animalism, equal > equal, allegory
There is an animal revolution on the farm, where the pigs mostly end up in charge
(animalism). Pigs try to keep things in order, especially with the Windmill, but
become more and more like the humans over time as the animals’ condition gets
worse and worse. At the end, the pigs even look like humans (communist leaders).
Title
Author
Main characters
Issues/themes
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Piggy, Simon, Ralph, Jack, Sam’neric
Conch Shell, pig head, lord of the flies, jesus, airplane, insanity, power, control,
barbarism
Boys crash on island, form a sort of community with Ralph and the Conch as the
leader, then Jack splits off and most of the boys slowly go to him and they become
very barbaric. They kill both Simon and Piggy, and when all of the boys are chasing
Ralph with the intention of killing him too, a ship comes to rescue them and they are
all ashamed.
Short summary
Title
Author
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All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Remarque
Tjaden, Albert, Kat, Westhus, Mueller, Paul, Cropp
War, Death, Guns, Women, Civilian reversion (PTSD)
Paul and co. are in war for a while. They are severely traumatized. When they go
home they can’t handle the peace.
Title
Author
Main Characters
Issues/Themes
Short Summary
Merchant of Venice
William Shakespeare
Shylock, Portia, Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano, Jessica
Jews, Religion, Oppression, Justice, Money, Pound of Flesh, Racism, Greed, Usury
Bassanio needs money to win Portia, so he borrows from Antonio from Shylock,
who requires a Pound Of Flesh, then the court case happens because Antonio cannot
pay it back. Then, Portia twists the system to get Shylock forcefully converted to
Christianity and save Antonio. The women trick the men and it’s ok in the end for all
but the Jew. Yup.
Title
Author
Main Characters
Issues/Themes
Short Summary
The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Pearl, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, Hestor
Morality, Adultery, Colonials (Puritanism), The Will of God
Hestor cheats on her husband while he is absent with the pastor, has a baby, is
ostracized, husband (Chillbro) comes back, Chillingsworth poisons Dimmesdale to
“nurse him back to health,” then Hestor and Dimmesdale come to terms with events
and he tries to come out to the town about it but they assume he is talking about
something else.
Title
Author
Main Characters
Issues/Themes
Short Summary
The Crucible
Arthur Miller
Tituba, John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail, Goody Good
Witchcraft and Finger Pointings, communist witchhunt, hysteria
John previously was a thing with Abigail. She accuses people of witchcraft to get him
back (especially Elizabeth) and then things escalate and people like Goody Good are
accused for no real reason. John doesn’t “confess” to witchcraft to save his and his
wife’s name, so he is hanged. Exeunt.
Title
Author
Main Characters
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Short Summary
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neal Hurston
Janie, Tea Cake, Joe(dy) Starks, Logan Killicks, Phoebe
Gender roles, the true meaning of love, hair, oppression
Janie’s grandma makes her marry Logan. She runs away and marries Jody, and they
make a villiage but he oppresses her. He dies and she is ok with it, then runs away
with Tea Cake. They move to the Everglades, where a hurricane happens and Tea
Cake gets rabies. She has to kill him, and moves back to Starks’s town.