They cheat on each other and they give in to carnal desires. This division continues in stories such as “Abroad,” “A Biography,” and “Lorna and Tom.” The Purple Swamp Hen’s home in a garden in Pompeii also shows him that humans hurt one another. The humans in “The Purple Swamp Hen” rank themselves into owners and slaves.

As Lively presents in the different time periods to the reader, humans have made no improvements. He is sarcastic in his reference to past human behaviors as being a “Benighted age” (9) and comments that human progress “Is not for me to proclaim” (9). This is summarized in the first story in the collection, “The Purple Swamp Hen,” when the narrator-the swamp hen himself–discusses human progress from his ancient time of existence into the present day. The different time periods emphasize the concept that human beings have not advanced much despite their lengthy time on the planet. The collection contains tales from ancient Pompeii to post-WWI and into today. Lively places her stories in an order that has nothing to do with chronology. The collection takes on a rather cynical tone, with many of the stories taking sarcastic jabs at human beings and their somewhat misdirected efforts.

These themes touch upon the darker sides of human nature and on the painful aftermath that sometimes comes as a result of interpersonal connections. Lively flexes her skills and establishes her breadth as a writer when she allows these stories to stand alone and leaves the reader to his own interpretation when making connections between the running themes throughout the collection. These individualized and compartmentalized stories take on unique points of view, tone, and mood-specific to each story’s narrative and time period. Each story is completely unique and no tale overlaps any other.

This book is a collection of 15 carefully crafted short stories written by Penelope Lively. NOTE: The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Lively, Penelope.

The purple swamp hen and other stories