The Short Story V.S Pritchett said: '...the short story tells us only one thing, and that, intensely.' I do not agree with this assertion and believe that whilst this might be true to some short stories, this cannot be applied to them all. To show this I will look at two short stories. 'A Very Short Story' (Ernest Hemingway) which I believe does conform to Pritchett's claim, and 'The Selfish Giant' (Oscar …showed first 75 words of 922 total…

…showed last 75 words of 922 total…to this, 'A Very Short Story ' being one of them as its purpose is to show how the war both created and lost love. However his theory cannot be applied to all short stories as I have clearly shown that 'The Selfish Giant' conveys more than one message that is that things are not always what they seem and that by treating people in the way you expect to be treated can be rewarding.