Ask HN: What's the most thought provoking short story you've read?

"Winter Dreams" by Fitzgerald is pretty great. It changed my perspective on wealth and has in general stuck with me for a long time: https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl494/winterdreams.pdf

The open boat by Stephen Crane is amazingly well written

"For sale, Baby shoes, Never worn."

Attributed to Hemingway, but he may have cribbed the idea from others...

"The Machine Stops" by Forster sent me for a loop back in high school.

Metamorphosis by Kafka

The Egg by Andy Weir http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html

"The last man alive was alone in a room. He locked the door."

"I have no mouth and I must scream"

"Postpaid to Paradise" aka "Postmarked for Paradise" aka "The Marvelous Stamps from El Dorado", a short story by Robert Arthur.

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

Not sure about MOST thought-provoking, but "The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species" and "State Change" (both by Ken Liu) are two good ones I read recently and think a lot about.

I recommend "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang! An excellent sci-fi story set in the past that explores themes of guilt and repentance.

Funes the Memorious, by Borges. "About" a dude (Funes) suffering from an infinite memory, written in a non-fiction tone/style.

http://vigeland.caltech.edu/ist4/lectures/funes%20borges.pdf

The Stranger by Albert Camus

I read a lot of good ones in school:

* Hills like White Elephants by Hemingway * A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor * Harrison Bergeron by Vonnegut * Most Dangerous Game