George Saunders’ “Puppy” and Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” tell of two different stories with different characters in presumably different time periods. Both authors have drastically different backgrounds that bring them to these tales. However, their works of literature are more comparable than one would initially think.
From the perspective of the reader, the intent of Puppy was to stress that there is often more to something than meets the eye and that because of this, we tend to want for things that we do not really understand. The families that appear in this story are perceived differently on the surface than they actually are underneath everything. Marie’s family is described as perfect. Marie thinks highly of her children - going as …show more content…
The dog is a façade that brings the family together and makes everything better in Marie’s mind. Marie idealizes the puppy - at one point imagining it to be a fancy British dog that entertains guests. Callie is presented as less fortunate than Maggie. Her house is a mess. Her husband, Jimmy, is violent, and her son, Bo, is abused. Jimmy threatens to kill the puppy, and he chains the son up in the back yard like a family pet. Marie judges Callie when she goes to pick up the dog from her house. She judges the dog as well - referring to it as “white trash.” Marie has everything that Callie wants - money. Both are naïve to the fact that no matter what, neither will be satisfied because they will always want something that someone else …show more content…
This is comparable to Puppy in that we see the parents in both stories failing as parents in their own ways. The authors of both stories continue to point at the flaws the parents make and how it affects their children. Twyla never actually gets over her mother’s abandonment and it shows throughout the story. Much like Marie’s children in “Puppy”, Roberta and Twyla hardly receive punishment for their actions.
In both stories, some characters strive for one thing: money. Just as Roberta and Twyla come from St. Bonny’s, Callie is of lower class, even her dog being referred to as “white trash” at one point. It is made subtly clear that the girls in “Recitatif” strive for success through money, while Callie wants everything that Marie has. The stories differ in this point that the both main characters in “Recitatif” become successful in their own eyes, whether it be through wealth or happiness; while neither family seems to be truly content in the end of
From the perspective of the reader, the intent of Puppy was to stress that there is often more to something than meets the eye and that because of this, we tend to want for things that we do not really understand. The families that appear in this story are perceived differently on the surface than they actually are underneath everything. Marie’s family is described as perfect. Marie thinks highly of her children - going as …show more content…
The dog is a façade that brings the family together and makes everything better in Marie’s mind. Marie idealizes the puppy - at one point imagining it to be a fancy British dog that entertains guests. Callie is presented as less fortunate than Maggie. Her house is a mess. Her husband, Jimmy, is violent, and her son, Bo, is abused. Jimmy threatens to kill the puppy, and he chains the son up in the back yard like a family pet. Marie judges Callie when she goes to pick up the dog from her house. She judges the dog as well - referring to it as “white trash.” Marie has everything that Callie wants - money. Both are naïve to the fact that no matter what, neither will be satisfied because they will always want something that someone else …show more content…
This is comparable to Puppy in that we see the parents in both stories failing as parents in their own ways. The authors of both stories continue to point at the flaws the parents make and how it affects their children. Twyla never actually gets over her mother’s abandonment and it shows throughout the story. Much like Marie’s children in “Puppy”, Roberta and Twyla hardly receive punishment for their actions.
In both stories, some characters strive for one thing: money. Just as Roberta and Twyla come from St. Bonny’s, Callie is of lower class, even her dog being referred to as “white trash” at one point. It is made subtly clear that the girls in “Recitatif” strive for success through money, while Callie wants everything that Marie has. The stories differ in this point that the both main characters in “Recitatif” become successful in their own eyes, whether it be through wealth or happiness; while neither family seems to be truly content in the end of