Short Story Cranes

The world would be lifeless if all seven billion people were identical. The decisions and opinions that a person makes defines who they are. Specifically, “We as human beings must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves” (Jordan 1). In the short story,“Two Friends” by Guy de Maupassant, Monsieur Sauvage and Monsieur Morissot meet while fishing and both want peace with the Prussians but end up dying for their city. In “Cranes” by Hwang Sunwon, the story is taken place during the Korean War along the Thirty-eighth parallel where two childhood friends meet as rivals. The aspect of acceptance is displayed in both the stories, they share correlations in an antagonist and theme of friendship, however, the relationship between …show more content…
In “Two Friends”, Sauvage and Morissot go fishing together to get away. When the Prussians capture them and asked for the code, “The two fisherman simply stood there refusing to speak” (Maupassant 553). Sauvage and Morissot put their lives on the line by not giving the password and sticking together. In the piece “Cranes”, Songsam said to Tokchae, “‘Hey, how come you’re standing there like a dummy? Go fish a crane!’ Only then Tokchae understood” (Sunwon 589). Songsam had a flashback to when Tokchae and him were kids catching cranes. When the crane flew into the sky it represented their friendship. Songsam had the choice to kill Tokchae or let him free. Both stories resemble the theme of friendship. Even with conflict, the characters’ friendships came …show more content…
In the story “Cranes”, Songsam had left his family behind, while Tokchae had stayed to take care of the farm and his wife, who is pregnant with their child. “When Songsam and Tokchae were about twelve, they had set a trap here, unbeknown to the adults, and caught a crane, a Tanjong crane” (Sunwon 587). Over time, the men grew apart, yet still accepts that one another has different family backgrounds. While, in the story, “Two Friends”, the relationship between Sauvage and Morissot contrasts the relationship of Songsam and Tokchae. As stated, Sauvage and Morissot, “...understood each other perfectly without needing to exchange any words, because their tastes were so alike and their feelings identical” (Maupassant 548). These men calmly debated with each other about the war and accepted that they each have their own opinions. This alters from the relationship in “Cranes” by how Sauvage and Morissot grow up together, but are divided by the two sides of the