Rick Bass's short story "Antlers".

The story at hand is about much more than the ethics of hunting, and despite its ambiguous, if not non-existent plot, I thought it was rich with meaning. Packaged as a glimpse of life into a small group of people, set in a beautifully rustic and occasionally harsh environment, the story eludes to several themes such as relationships, human needs, addictions, fear, stereotypes, hypocrisy, and our perceptions of reality. Like an old, mysterious house with …

…As strong as our influences are, I don't believe so. From an optimistic perspective, I think the story could be interpreted as a call to action by Bass--a way of saying that each one of us has the ability to positively affect our own lives and to make a difference in the lives of others. In MLA standard format. Page numbers from book: Fiction 100, 9th Edition, by James H. Pickering, published by Prentice Hall (c) 2001