Jessie Georgina Sime, Sinclair Ross, and Margaret Laurence all share one key element in their respective short stories. That common element is the fact that all three short stories’ settings directly impact the lifestyle, but, more importantly, the growth and decisions of the people (the individual and the wider society) involved. To begin with, Sime’s urban realism is used to depict the life of a woman during World War I. She discusses and expands on the idea of the new woman. Furthermore, she notes and how the emergence of this idea of the new woman had a great impact on society and the individual. More specifically, she points out how women went from noiseless to being heard. Furthermore, as we move from urban life to the prairies, Ross explores what is means to live and the effects of living in the prairies with prairie realism. The mother in Ross’ “The Runaway” experiences anger as a result of the great depression and the lifestyle …show more content…
The father has a great deal of pride concerning his horsemanship, but that goes south when he is sold the flawed Diamonds. His diamonds force him to evaluate the meaning of justice. This study stems from the fact that the father ponders why the horses (entirely innocent creatures) should be forced to burn and die in the barn alongside Old Luke. How can there be justice if an innocent creature dies alongside the devil incarnate himself? Another compelling point is that the Diamonds are described as being a mix of “grace and fire” (Ross, 456). The diamonds themselves are a mix of stark opposites: faith and sin. It is almost as if the diamonds represent Luke’s crisis of faith and his evaluation of the meaning of faith. The diamonds force the father to re-evaluate himself and the meaning of justice, but they eventually also perpetuate his pride in the