An Analytical Study of Elements of Short Story in 'Slabs of Stone Walls of Shaista Mahal' from Mushtaq Banu's "Heart Lamp" Selected Short Stories

The short story contains the smaller size than novella and novel. It comprises of the elements of fiction or novel ? plot, character, setting, theme, conflict etc. Like novel its plot is logically structured inculcating beginning, middle, and end. Apart from plot, the short story embeds characters such as individual or type, flat or round. The location, theme, and conflict are also essential parts of the story without which it remains incomplete. Banu Mushtaq shines as a star bagging Booker Prize 2025 for her renowned short story collection 'Heart Lamp'. The present research paper selecting a short story named 'Slabs of Stone from Shaista Mahal' from 'Heart Lamp', seeks to probe into analytical study of elements of short story into it. The paper aims to examines how plot-construction takes place, what characters think, speak, act, and react, when and where the story happens, what major conflict or problem encounters them; what central issue or idea underlies in the short story. And how beautifully and skillfully the writer has entwined the fabrics of the short story. The qualitative research methodology is applied in it. The research methods such as: textual analysis and evaluative method have been exercised in it.