2 Stories Compare Contrast

Figuring out who you are paves the path of the life. As a teenager, it is a very important journey to complete. Wanting people to like you for who you are, not what they see, is a problem that many like the character Jerry, in the story “A Mother in Mannville” by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings face. On the other hand, figuring out who you are can be becoming more independent, less fearful, and a new person, like Ted, in the story “Golden Glass” by Alma Luz Villanueva. These boys each encounter the journey of figuring out who you are, one another deals with knowing what they don’t want in life, and each become who they are from this step in their lives. Despite all these similarities, they figure out who they want to be in very different approaches. Although Ted and Jerry do not seem to have much in common, they do have several similarities. First of all, both are very independent. Ted, from “Golden Glass”, decides to build and live in a fort all summer long, while Jerry, from “A Mother in Mannville”, shows he is independent by being dependable by coming every day to chop the narrator’s wood. In addition, Ted and Jerry are about the same age and usually are both quiet. Ted is 14 years old, while Jerry is 12, which shows they might have similar interests. Ted does not have much to say throughout the short story, yet Jerry feels like if there is nothing to say, why bother to talk? In the same way, both young men don’t have a paternal figure in their lives. There is no father that can help guide them and teach them that is mentioned in both stories. Finally, both boys are trying to become who they are today. Ted and Jerry are about the same age, and when you’re a teenager, you’re trying to put the pieces of who you are, and who you want to be together. Even though Ted and Jerry may have some things in common, they have numerous differences. For example, their personalities are very different. Ted is fearful, dependent, and lonely at first, he becomes less