Suzy And Leah By Jane Yolen: A Comparative Analysis
There are some people in this world who judge people before they truly know them, but every person has a different story. These people can unravel and surprise you. This is shown in the novel called Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes and the short story called “Suzy and Leah,” by Jane Yolen. In the story Bronx Masquerade there are a variety of kids that all come together and these kids express themselves in poetry. Within this story, Grimes shows the difficulties their lives were. In the short story “Suzy and Leah” two characters come together even though they are opposites. A Jewish refugee named Leah comes to a different country then what she is used to. She came to America and she was scared until she met a girl named Suzy. Both of these stories
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For instance, Grimes tells the story of Leslie Lucas encountering another character with a similar pasts yet a harsh personality and writes, “I swallowed hard and waited for Porscha to shove me against the lockers… instead she stepped back, lowered herself to the bench, and said, ‘Sorry about your mom. My mom died too’” (Grimes 53). Within this event, Leslie’s first impression of Porscha changed when they connected due to life-changing experiences they shared. Because of the sympathy Porscha showed, the two characters bonded and learned to look past their differences. A similar theme is portrayed in the short story, “Suzy and Leah” by Jane Yolen. In the text, two diverse characters with different backgrounds meet in unusual circumstances. Yolen uses Suzy, a naïve girl who is oblivious to the struggles that Leah, a Jewish refugee, is going through, when she states, “He gave me the girl with the dark braids, the one without the nametag, and the one in my pinafore. Gee, she’s as prickly as a porcupine” (Yolen 451). Instead of trying to understand Leah’s situation, Suzy criticizes her because of her appearance and how she acts. Due to Suzy’s change of perception of Leah, the two characters connected, forgot their troubles, and became friends. As a result, the characters’ actions illustrate the importance of avoiding judging someone based on a first
For instance, Grimes tells the story of Leslie Lucas encountering another character with a similar pasts yet a harsh personality and writes, “I swallowed hard and waited for Porscha to shove me against the lockers… instead she stepped back, lowered herself to the bench, and said, ‘Sorry about your mom. My mom died too’” (Grimes 53). Within this event, Leslie’s first impression of Porscha changed when they connected due to life-changing experiences they shared. Because of the sympathy Porscha showed, the two characters bonded and learned to look past their differences. A similar theme is portrayed in the short story, “Suzy and Leah” by Jane Yolen. In the text, two diverse characters with different backgrounds meet in unusual circumstances. Yolen uses Suzy, a naïve girl who is oblivious to the struggles that Leah, a Jewish refugee, is going through, when she states, “He gave me the girl with the dark braids, the one without the nametag, and the one in my pinafore. Gee, she’s as prickly as a porcupine” (Yolen 451). Instead of trying to understand Leah’s situation, Suzy criticizes her because of her appearance and how she acts. Due to Suzy’s change of perception of Leah, the two characters connected, forgot their troubles, and became friends. As a result, the characters’ actions illustrate the importance of avoiding judging someone based on a first