Contrasting And Comparison Essay Of Chapters 4 & 5 Of  Twain’s Life On The Mississippi And Bobbie Ann Mason’s “Being Country”

Though the two stories are written in different settings and the personas are of different genders, there have some common themes. They also have numerous opposing arguments. This paper seeks to compare and contrast the themes, mood, and tones of the two essays.

The first theme that is present in the two stories is the theme of childhood dreams. The two characters in the two stories have various ambitions in their life. They don’t admire the lives that are lived by their parents. They all have dreams to follow. ”WHEN I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a steam boatman.” (Twain, N.D.).  The character and his fellow mates had only one ambition – becoming a steam boatman. The boys had other dreams also, but that of being a steamboats man superseded them all. At a later stage, he changes the ream to become a cub pilot.  The theme of childhood dreams/ ambitions is also present in the story, ’Being a country by Bobbie Ann’.  “. I didn’t want to be hulling beans in a hot kitchen when I was fifty years old. I wanted to be somebody, maybe an airline stewardess. Also, I had been listening to the radio. I had notions” (Mason, N.D.). The girl had dreams of becoming an airline stewardess. She thought that the job would be a good one than hulling beans in the kitchen like their mother and granny were doing.

The theme of helplessness also comes out clearly in the two stories. In the story, Being a country, the people there lived in fear. They did not know whether they would get a harvest or not. They ate, not knowing where the next meal would come from.  The dreams the villagers had were that of food. The character hates the constant sense of helplessness before forces that they would not have control over. In the story by Twain, the villagers are helpless and are only dependent on the ship’s arrival. There is a big scramble to get aboard and to get ashore. The main character later realizes that he could not attain his dream of becoming a cub-pilot. He says months afterwards, the hope within him had struggled to a reluctant death. He found himself without ambitions. He was ashamed to go back to his home and worked out a map of a new career.

The theme of adventure is present in both stories. In the story, Being a country, the character wants to go and tour the town. She felt inferior to people in the city. She was envious of them as they would buy whatever they wanted. She wanted to be an air steward so that she could travel all over the world and tour different places. In the story by Twain, adventure is presented by the various travels made by the boat. After realizing that he could not become a cub-pilot, he set out to explore the Amazon river through an expedition by the government.

The theme of publicity also comes out clearly in the two stories. In the story, the boys’ ambition, the character wants to become a cabin boy so that he could come out with a white apron on and shake a tablecloth over the side, where all his old comrades could see him. In the other hand, Mason’s story only presents people who are concerned about their well-being and not publicity.

The theme of illiteracy and literacy brings itself out quite clearly in the texts. There was a man who used to speak using vocabulary that would not be understood by the people. The writer says that the man used to talk of ‘larboard’ in a natural way and that made them wish they were dead. However, in the text, country living, young people are educated because they went to school and therefore they are literate.

The theme of hatred is also present in both stories. In the story, life on the Mississippi, hatred comes out clearly when the text states that the youths hated their comrade. This is because he wore very decently and a lot of money such that no lady would withstand his charms. He cut out every boy in the village.  He is described as an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism. However, in the story, country living, there is no hatred at all. The family lives together peacefully and do not interfere with the member’s ambitions.

The theme of family relationships is also brought out in the two texts. Twain states that his father was a justice of the peace. He possessed the power of life and death overall men and women in the village. He would also hang anybody that had offended him. The parents had refused to allow some of their children to work in the Mississippi River. In the story, being a country, there is a family of mama, granny and the character. They talk about a lot of stories about their day-to-day lives which did not make her happy. It was the mother’s responsibility to teach the girl how to cook, but she did not because she claims that she did not want to learn. However, in the first text, there are no visible relationships between the character and their family.

The theme of change is present in both texts. In Twain’s story, the boy changes ancient careers. They become engineers, mud clerks, barkeepers in the boat, and pilots. The main character to changes his ambitions from being a steam boatman to a pilot. He says that he would not come back home again until he was a pilot and he could come in glory. After he figures out he would not become a cub-pilot, he changes his ambitions and starts to map out a new career. In the story, being a country, there is a change in the way life in town was viewed. She had admired the experience of living in city before, but later he changed her views.

The theme of materialism is also present in the two texts. In the story, life on the Mississippi, people take carriers according to how much wages they would get.  The main character in the book wanted to become a pilot because he was paid princely from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars a month. He describes the salary and further states the pilot’s two-month salary would pay the wages of a preacher for a whole year. Mason’s story also brings out the theme of materialism in a decent manner. The main character admires the life of living in the town where it is easy to access everything if they had money. She was excited that the people in town would buy food and clothing with ease.

The theme of companionship is also seen to be present in the two texts. In Twain’s story, the main character was lonely, and he tried to find a person whom they would become friends. He went to the humblest official of them who was the watchman. They sat with him on the big bell on the hurricane deck, and in time they melted into a lot of conversations. The theme of companionship is present in the text, living a country, by the way, the mother, daughter and granny carry out their duties cohesively. They helped each other in their day to day lives.

Works cited

Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi

Bobbie, Ann. Being Country