Comparing Kamau's Finish And The Bunion Derby

Ambition and dedication are essential to obtaining goals. The two stories, Kamau’s Finish and The Bunion Derby portray this universal idea. In Kamau’s Finish, the main character Kamau desperately wants to win a race to prove to his family that he is not just a “hopeless dreamer”. However, during the race, he falls down, and because he already was going to lose, Kamau wanted to give up. In the end, Kamau learns to persevere and give effort to finish the race. In The Bunion Derby, Andy enters into a race to hopefully win and earn the prize money for his family. During the race, he sees many of his competitors drop out of the difficult course. He also endures many challenges himself. Eventually, Andy discovers that dedication and determination are the perfect recipe to accomplish anything. In both texts we learn that in life, everyone needs endurance and intention to achieve their goals. However, sometimes the reward in the end is different that what was expected. …show more content…
Kamau essentially wanted to race to show his family that he could win. He was only focused on winning the race for appreciation instead of pleasure. Kamau says, “Now if only Baba would get here, I’d show him how I did it. I’d prove to him that I’m not just a hopeless dreamer.” Because of Kamau’s great desire to win, he saw all of his competitors as enemies. On the other hand, Andy had a true passion for running, and entered his race not only for the winner’s money, but also because his love for running. The texts says, “Andy persisted. He was young, he was strong, he’s been a runner all his life…” This shows that Andy had been running for a long time and wanted to grow his career. It is important for the reader to notice that the runner’s inspirations were very different, which influenced their actions and the overall theme in different