Order & Chaos

Like night and day or winter and summer, there is a rigid division between the states of order and chaos that seems immutable. Nevertheless, these opposing forces also depend on one another. In this study guide collection, we've put together texts that explore themes related to the diametrically opposed yet inextricably linked forces of order and chaos.

The Blazing World

by Margaret Cavendish

Publication year 1666

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Politics & Government, Science & Technology, Perseverance, Femininity, Friendship, Nation, War, Fame, Order & Chaos, Equality

Tags Education, Education, British Literature, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Philosophy, Gender & Feminism, European History, Military & War, Politics & Government, Science & Nature, Age of Enlightenment, Restoration

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The Blue Hotel

by Stephen Crane

Publication year 1898

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Order & Chaos, Guilt

Tags Western, American Literature, Expressionism

“The Blue Hotel” is an 1898 short story by American author Stephen Crane, a pioneer of Naturalism and Expressionism in the American literary canon. Originally published in two parts in the magazine Collier’s Weekly, “The Blue Hotel” was subsequently released in Crane’s 1899 collection The Monster and Other Stories. In telling the story of a murder that unfolds in a remote Nebraska town, it explores themes of Isolation and Its Impact on the Human Psyche... Read The Blue Hotel Summary

The Book of Magic

by Alice Hoffman

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Love, Femininity, Death, Future, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Objects & Materials, Place, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, Education, Art, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction

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The Bourne Identity

by Robert Ludlum

Publication year 1980

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Memory, Mental Health, The Past, Self Discovery, Globalization, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Justice, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

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The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

by Stephen Crane

Publication year 1898

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Order & Chaos, Conflict, The Past

Tags Education, Education, Classic Fiction, Western, Humor, American Literature

“The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” is a short story by American author Stephen Crane. Published in 1898, the story parodies tropes of old westerns and addresses the themes of the death of the Old West, domesticity, and masculinity. The story details the journey of Jack Potter, marshal of the small town of Yellow Sky, as he brings his new bride from the East back to his home in Texas on the Western frontier. Once... Read The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky Summary

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

by Thornton Wilder

Publication year 1927

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Fate, Death, Appearance & Reality, Order & Chaos

Tags Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

Thornton Wilder’s philosophical novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) opens with a catastrophic event in colonial Peru. On July 20, 1714, a centuries-old Incan rope bridge collapses, plunging five travelers to their deaths. Witnessing the tragedy, a Franciscan friar named Brother Juniper embarks on a six-year investigation into the lives of the victims, hoping to uncover a divine pattern and answer the question of whether their deaths were part of God’s plan or... Read The Bridge of San Luis Rey Summary

The Bronze Horseman

by Alexander Pushkin

Publication year 1841

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Nation, Order & Chaos

Tags Russian Literature, Classic Fiction, Narrative Poem, Historical Fiction, European History, Politics & Government, Science & Nature, Romanticism, Realism

The Bronze Horseman: A Saint Petersburg Story is a narrative poem by 19th-century Russian poet, dramatist, and novelist Alexander Pushkin, who is considered Russia’s greatest poet. It was written in 1833, but was not published until 1841, after Pushkin’s death due to censorship of Pushkin’s works by the Russian government.Regarded as one of Pushkin’s most accomplished works, The Bronze Horseman has had a marked influence on Russian literature. The poem tells of the founding of Saint... Read The Bronze Horseman Summary

The Call of Cthulhu

by H. P. Lovecraft

Publication year 1928

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Race, Religion & Spirituality, Fate, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Order & Chaos, Good & Evil, Fear, Conflict

Tags Science Fiction, Gothic Literature, Fantasy, Classic Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Race & Racism

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The Catbird Seat

by James Thurber

Publication year 1942

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Hate & Anger, Order & Chaos

Tags Humor, Satirical Literature, Classic Fiction, Gender & Feminism, Mental Illness, American Literature, Education, Education, British Literature

When the story begins, a man named Erwin Martin, who never smokes, is buying cigarettes. Mr. Martin works for a company called F & S, where he is in charge of the filing department. Mr. Martin has already been contemplating—and planning—the murder of a coworker for over a week. Two years prior, a woman named Ulgine Barrows joined F & S, where she quickly proposed changes to the department—changes that Mr. Martin finds intolerable.Later, as... Read The Catbird Seat Summary

The Cat Who Saved Books

by Sōsuke Natsukawa, Transl. Louise Heal Kawai

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Animals, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Hope, Joy, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Coming of Age, Death, Future, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Friendship, Grandparents, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Economics, Education, Art, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies

Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Japanese Literature, Contemporary Literature

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The Chestnut Man

by Søren Sveistrup

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Equality, Family, Apathy, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Regret, Revenge, Death, The Past, Nature Versus Nurture, Place, Mothers, Politics & Government, Justice, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Trauma & Abuse

In 1989, police officer Marius Larsen drives to a remote farm on the Danish island of Møn. Inside, he finds the farmer Ørum's two teenage children shot dead and Ørum's wife hacked to death with an axe. In the bathroom, Larsen discovers a young boy barely alive beneath a shower curtain. Remembering the boy has a twin sister, he descends to the basement and finds the girl cowering in a room used as a prison... Read The Chestnut Man Summary

The City and the City

by China Miéville

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Appearance & Reality, Order & Chaos, Politics & Government, Justice, Nation, Fear

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Politics & Government, Horror & Suspense

China Miéville’s The City and the City, originally published in 2009, is a hybrid of two distinct genres—speculative fiction and detective fiction—that explores the human susceptibility to fear and the erection of borders as a response to that fear. Other themes examined in the novel are political corruption, violence inspired by far-right politics, and the allure of myths. The City and the City is the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the World Fantasy... Read The City and the City Summary

The Comedy of Errors

by William Shakespeare

Publication year 1594

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Family, Social Class, Economics, Order & Chaos

Tags Classic Fiction, Comedy & Satire, British Literature

The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays and is a comedy that incorporates slapstick humor, farce, and wordplay. Its first recorded performance was in 1594, and it has been performed and adapted numerous times since then. Its title has entered into the English lexicon: The phrase “comedy of errors” means a situation caused by many mistakes.The play follows the story of two sets of identical twins who also share the same names... Read The Comedy of Errors Summary

The Comfort of Crows

by Margaret Renkl

Publication year 2023

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Grief, Memory, Aging, Death, Future, The Past, Animals, Climate, Environment, Plants, Food, Nature Versus Nurture, Objects & Materials, Place, Family, Self Discovery, Community, Education, Globalization, Beauty, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Animals, Science & Nature

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