Overview

Nick

Christina Rossetti

1850

The Woman’s Rose

Olive Schreiner

1899

The Black Ball

Ralph Ellison

1937

The Gold Watch

Mulk Raj Anand

1959

When It Happens

Margaret Atwood

1977

The Man Who Walked on the Moon

J.G. Ballard

1985

A Walk to the Jetty

Jamaica Kincaid

1985

Showing the Flag

Jane Gardam

1989

Haywards Heath

Aminatta Forna

2010

Fluke

Romesh Gunesekera

2014

A man’s envious wishes lead to transformations (sparrows, dog, stick, fire, old man) until he learns to be humble.

Envy, punishment and redemption, morality

Fairy-tale allegory, omniscient narrator with direct address, symbolism of transformations

A young woman recalls rivalry with another girl in a male-dominated settlement, ending in rare solidarity symbolised by a rose.

Patriarchy, rivalry versus sisterhood, solidarity, memory

Allegory, symbolism (rose, light and dark), reflective flashback structure

John, a Black janitor, reflects on his son’s future, his union struggles, and the metaphorical “black ball” of exclusion. 

Racism, injustice, fatherhood, hope for change

First-person narration, symbolism (“black ball”), irony, colour imagery

Sharma is forced to retire after 20 years of service, receiving only a gold watch as a hollow token of colonial “reward”.

Colonial exploitation, ageism, futility of loyalty, disillusionment

Irony, symbolism (watch, Buick versus train), satirical tone, omniscient narration

Farm wife Mrs Burridge obsessively prepares for a vague disaster, torn between practicality and paranoia.

Fear, isolation, utopia versus dystopia, history and memory

Shifts in tense, symbolism (gun, fortress, food), cyclical ending

A drifter befriends Scranton, who claims to be an astronaut, only to inherit his delusional identity after his death.

Identity, delusion versus reality, alienation, freedom

Unreliable first-person narrator, cyclical structure, irony, astronaut imagery as metaphor

Annie leaves Antigua for England, reflecting critically on family, colonial upbringing, and her own independence.

Adolescence, colonial identity, rebellion, migration

First-person subjective narration, irony, symbolism (jetty, sea)

Young Philip travels alone to France, clinging to a Union Jack as a symbol of identity and security.

Family separation, cultural identity, childhood anxiety, maternal guilt

Irony, symbolism (flag, suitcase, food), dialogue shaping misunderstanding

Attila visits his old love Rosie in an English care home, only to find her lost to dementia.

Memory, lost romance, past versus present, diaspora identity

Omniscient narration, symbolism (Jaguar car, sweets), nostalgic imagery, pathos

Taxi driver Vasantha contrasts his modest business and peace of mind with a businessman’s obsession with status and technology.

Tradition versus modernity, illusion versus reality, nature versus artifice

First-person monologue, humour, symbolism (sea, phone, “good chi”), irony