Student Question

Can you recommend more American short stories that explore the conflict between individuals and society?

Quick answer:

Recommended American short stories that explore individual versus society conflict include "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, "By the Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benet, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, "In the Vault" by H.P. Lovecraft, "Rappaccini's Daughter" and "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Hands" by Sherwood Anderson, "The Worn Path" by Eudora Welty, and "The White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett.

Expert Answers

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How about these?

"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell

"The Red Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"By the Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benet

"The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty

"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant

"An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce

"In the Vault" by H.P. Lovecraft

"Rappacinni's Daughter" by Nathanial Hawthorne

"Young Goodman Brown" by Nathanial Hawthorne

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Some of my favorites are

"Hands" by Sherwood Anderson

"The Worn Path" by Eudora Welty

"The White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett

Is that last one a bit of a stretch?  I'm thinking values of the individual as expressed by the little girl, vs. values of society as brought in by the visitor...

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How about these?  "The Lottery" (Jackson), "Battle Royal" (Ellison), "The Cop and the Anthem" (O. Henry), "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" (Hawthorne), "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg: (Twain, "The Blue Hotel" (Crane), "The Displaced Person" (O'Connor), "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" (Harte), "Unlighted Lamps" (Anderson), "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" (Fitzgerald), or "A Rose for Emily" (Faulkner).

Some of these are a bit of a stretch, I realize, because man vs. society is probably not the primary conflict.

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There should not be much of a problem finding stories.  Man vs. society is the foundation of much of American letters.  Some of my favorites are:

"The Rules of the Game"  by Amy Tan http://www.enotes.com/rules-game

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"  by Washington Irving  http://www.enotes.com/legend-sleepy

"A&P" by John Updike http://www.enotes.com/and-pa

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner  http://www.enotes.com/rose-emily

"Indian Camp," by Ernest Hemingway  http://www.enotes.com/indian-camp

"The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson  http://www.enotes.com/lottery

I'm sure others can recommend even more for you. 

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