Comparing and Contrasting Country Lovers and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Essay

These elements contri excepte to the short fabrications effectiveness as origin subr awayines several(predicate) literary forms and dashs to plug in the lecturer to the tarradiddle. means has populacey book of factsistics that help the author adopt the reader such as punctuation, the exercising of con nonations, and culture. This is what helps the readers tomography mesh over, paint the picture, and get emotionally connected to the authors drool.In comparing and contrasting the two short stories of the secluded livelihood of Walter Mitty by James Thurber and inelegant Lovers by Nadine Gordimer you see the differences and similarities in style between the two authors. The culture, which is the common characteristics of a group or a do primary(prenominal) (Clugston 2010), is very similar in some(prenominal) stories since they atomic number 18 close to real livelihood with the telescope in the 1900s. Both stories cast around kindreds and tell apart. Thurber st yle is more creative then Gordimer which is defined by his use of connotations and punctuation, although both stories argon very exact when it comes to the characters and settings within the stories.In the short story solid ground Lovers Gordimer does a great vocation illustrating the setting, which is the time or calculate in which the action occurs (Clugston 2010). Gordimer provides details ab divulge the s kayoedhward African culture that allow the reader to understand the separatism and segregation the characters ar living. The reader gets to feel what its the like to be discolor in in the s show uph Africa by means of the detailed descriptions of the loving conditions and treatment of blacks. The main characters in the story are Paulus and Thebedi. Paulus is the son of a farmer who was raised with the children of the black families that worked on his fathers farm. He falls in write out with a black childhood playfellow as a teenager but he understands that a rela tionship with her is disallow. Thebedi is Paulus black childhood playmate who becomes his lover. The two stupefy a sexual relationship which results in a child being born. The source, which is a representation of the idea behind the story (Clugston 2010), is assorted love or prohibit love. The laws and culture of southwestern Africa forbid interracial couples. Thebedi & Paulus are aware of the dangers of being in concert but choose to get gnarled anyway.As the story unfolds, Gordimer arrests out the imagination of the reader through the use of metaphors, which is an implied comparing between bingle object and some other that is unalike from it (Clugston 2010). An fount of this is when Goridmer writes, hidden by the mesh of old, anteaten trees held in place by vigorous ones, wild edible asparagus bushing up between the trunks, and hither and there pricklypear cactus deep-setskinned and bristly, like an old mans face (Clugston 2010). This allows the reader to visually p aint the picture of where Thebedi and Paulus are at and what the scenery is. A common symbolism, which is something that has a literal identity but excessively stands for something else (Clugston 2010), that is used in sylvan Lovers is a tree. A tree can be a symbol for life, death, or immortality. This is a good match with the theme and temporary hookup of the story.The mend, which is a dynamic element in fiction, a sequence of inter cogitate, conflicting actions and events that typically build to a climax and bring close a resolution (Clugston 2010), thickens as both Thebedi and Paulus continue their love affair. Thebedi goes on to marry Njabulo, who is withal black, and fails to tell Paulus of her espousal. At the same time Thebedi in any case finds out she is pregnant with Paulus baby. When Thebedi gives birth to her daughter its obvious the baby isnt Njabulos but he accepts her as it was his own. When Paulus finds out virtually the married couple and the child he becom es upset, why does he get upset, I mean its a manse of his love for Thebedi which ties back to the theme of veto love. The story takes an interesting twist, although the author neer clearly states that Paulus killed the baby, its evident he did by the flow of the story. Its up to the reader to understand the why, why would Paulus kill the baby? Again, I count the why ties back to the theme of forbidden love.Paulus has accepted that Thebedi will never be his wife due to society and the racial customs of South Africa. Understanding this he doesnt want anyone to find out astir(predicate) the baby because interracial relationships are forbidden so he takes the utter intimately(a) measure of killing the baby. One could also argue that he killed the baby out of jealousy and not wanting some other man to raise his child. The story ends with Thebedi refusing to show against Paulus in the killing of her baby. This shows that Thebedi has accepted her piece in society as a black wo man liberal up any hope if a relationship with Paulus. Throughout the whole story Thebedi character is subservient to Paulus but the ending shows that Thebedi is also submissive to society by giving into social traditions and discriminatory behavior of South Africa.The short story of The abstruse Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber is written in a third person establish of view, which occurs when the speaker is not a histrion in the story (Clugston 2010). The form is moderate omniscient, which is when the thoughts and feelings of only one of the characters are related through the narrator (Clugston 2010) that character is Walter Mitty. The setting of this story occurs in a urban center called Waterbury but the state is never mentioned or disclosed, one can assume its Waterbury, Connecticut. The main characters are Walter Mitty and Mrs. Mitty. Walter Mitty is someone who gets bossed around by his wife so he creates a cabalistic life for himself. In his secret life he sees hi mself as a regnant man who is admired by all, something he is not in real life. Mrs. Mitty is the bossy, nagging, overbearing wife of Walter Mitty. Thurber does a great agate line illustrating the relationship between Walter and his wife which many mess can relate too, I lay out it very humorous. That takes me to the theme of thestory, which I believe is marriage. Thurber portrays a marriage where the maintain is submissive to his bossy, nagging, and overbearing wife. A second theme could be masculinity since all of Walters dreams portray him as a powerful man whos admired by all.The story is about Walter taking his wife into town to visit her hair dresser. along the way Walter begins to imagine to escape the honesty of his real like. Thurber does an excellent profession of attractive the readers imagination through each of Walters fantasys allowing the reader to vividly picture what Walter is fantasizing about. An example of this is during Walters first fantasies where he is noble-and-mighty a hydroplane through a storm, Rev her up to 8500 Were overtaking through The pounding of the cylinders increased ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa (Clugston 2010). The lumbering of ta-packeta-pocketa is just the cylinders of the car Walter is driving. Each one of Walters fantasies is tied to something that is specific to whats going on in the story. As Walter drives past the hospital he starts to fantasize about being a surgeon. As the newsboy shouts about the Waterbury trial Walters fantasizes about being in a courtroom. The freedom magazine leads Walter into a fantasy about military dugout. Thurber does a great job of interweaving Walters fantasies with the surroundings of the story.The uses of symbolisms in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty were not used in the traditional literary forms. Instead Thurber ties in the symbolism of control and power in each of Walters fantasies by Walter cover bravery, no fear, power, fame, and a man with high rankin g titles. Thurber does a great job of connecting and supporting the symbolism with the theme of marriage and masculinity. The use of this symbolism is to show how Walter feels about marriage, since Walter feels powerless throughout the story as his wife talks down to him. there are many differences and similarities in Country Lovers and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The first and most recognizable difference is Country Lovers is a tragic story with a plot that builds up along with way with romance, fleshly relationship, racial discrimination, pregnancy,arranged marriage, murder, deception, secrecy, and acceptance of normalcy. art object The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a clowning with not much of a plot. Where they are similar, both are written in a third person particular(a) omniscient point of view. Both had themes of love and marriage but were very different in how each played out. Country Lovers was forbidden love and arranged marriage while The Secret Life of Walter Mit ty was love and marriage between a husband and wife. These literary elements contribute to the short storys effectiveness as authors uses different literary forms and styles to connect the reader to the story.ReferencesClugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California Bridgepoint Education, Inc.