賴和的短篇小說大約寫於1923-1937之間，他生前發表過十五篇，及近年來在他的遺稿中陸續發現整理出五篇，共計廿篇。本文從這些小說中探討臺灣由封閉的農業社會，轉入日本殖民統治體制所形成的萌芽中資本主義社會的景象。小說主題由三方面呈現：其一是封建勢力的殘存對臺灣人民的壓迫，如：〈鬥鬧熱〉、〈蛇先生〉、〈棋盤邊〉、〈善訟的人的故事〉、〈未來的希望〉、〈富戶人的歷史〉；其二是作者傾訴了對同胞悲慘命運的深切同情，反映日據時期臺灣人民被壓榨、迫害的情形，如：〈不幸之賣油炸檜的〉、〈一桿『稱仔』〉、〈不如意的過年〉、〈辱？！〉、〈浪漫外紀〉、〈可憐她死了〉、〈豐作〉、〈惹事〉；其三是當時知識分子所意識到的民族思想覺醒，如：〈彫古董〉、〈歸家〉、〈一個同志的批信〉、〈赴會〉、〈阿四〉。這三類作品中，沉痛地指陳出台灣在日據時代的歷史文化與現實生活中的種種境遇及弊端。

Lai Ho was a Taiwanese novelist, who wrote an historical account covering the period between 1923-1937. It was at first believed that he wrote about 15 volumes before he died. Later on, after his death, someone discovered that Lai Ho had written five more volumes; therefore, the novelist wrote, in total, 20 volumes. His central topic in his short stories was Taiwan. He wrote about how, back in the twenties and thirties, Taiwan society was transformed from the primitive farming to Japanese colonization. The author focused his writing on three different aspects of Taiwanese life: 1) the way that Japan controlled Taiwan and the way that the Japanese treated the Taiwanese. This is seen in the following short stories: 、、、、and; 2) the suffering of the Taiwanese people at the hands of the Japanese. He comments on the suffering and offers his sympathy to the Taiwanese people. He reflects on specifically how the Japanese made the Taiwanese suffer. This aspect is shown in the following short stories: 、、、、、and; 3) the fact that, once the educated people found out that the Taiwanese people were suffering, they tried to find a way to stop the oppression. This element is shown in the following short stories: 、、、aand. These three aspects in this historical profile are considered in depth. The author reflected on the lessons given by historical reality.