Clay (short story) Clay (short story) "Clay" is a short story by James Joyce published in his 1914 collection "Dubliners." It is important to note that due to this short story being left intentionally vague by its author, there can be numerous interpretations on what occurs in the story and the analysis of it. Maria, an elderly woman with a job in a rescue mission for wayward women, is looking forward to a holiday evening at the house of Joe, whom she nursed when he was a boy and of whom she is still very fond. She departs for Joe's after attending a
The Idiots (short story) The Idiots (short story) "The Idiots" is a short story by Joseph Conrad, his first to be published. It first appeared in "The Savoy" in 1896. The story was included in the Conrad collection "Tales of Unrest", published in 1898. Set in Britanny, the story describes a couple whose children have intellectual disability; the strain on the family leads eventually to murder. The story was written during Joseph Conrad's honeymoon; he rented a house on Île-Grande, on the north coast of Brittany, from April to August 1896. His wife Jessie later wrote that "much of our Île-Grande life is in