Stories about survival have been popular since, virtually, the beginning of time, as survival is the most important and primitive aspect of human lives. It is the force that drove our evolution and refined us to our current stature today, so it is no surprise that we are amused by tales of robust endurance against the most severe circumstances. The stories The Inheritor and Side Bet are two prime examples of our fascination with these types of tales, but, when comparing the two stories of survival, one reigns as superior, with more vivid details of the setting, greater and more dynamic characters, and a more compelling plot. Between the two stories The
Inheritor by Frank Roberts, and Side Bet by Will F. Jenkins, Side Bet prevails as the
better …show more content…
And there was the island, which was not more than fifty by fifteen yards in extent.”
(Jenkins, par-1)
The author describes the setting so thoroughly, yet beautifully, as if he was painting a mental picture for someone who had never ventured outside before. On the other hand, while the setting is equally as important in the story The Inheritor, it is not described as well or with as many substantial details for the reader to properly immerse oneself into the scenario. For example, the sentence, “They were on the only high land for miles around, a peaked hill known as Lone Pine because it had one tree on it.” (Roberts, par-2), does not provide the reader with a lucid vision of the scene, and is quite bland. Furthermore, the setting of Side Bet creates a much more compelling story. The notion of being stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean with no understanding of how far away the closest human being is seems a lot more daunting than a hill surrounded by a flood. Not only was the setting not as interesting in The Inheritor, the story also fails to articulate the setting as well as it could have, which also hinders how well one can imagine the characters …show more content…
Aside from the humans, the animals of the story retain some distinct characteristics as well. In The Inheritor, the animals exhibit very predictable behaviours, true to their primal instincts, while in Side Bet, the rat almost seems to develop a persona of its own, well beyond what one would expect from a rat. The rat’s vicious personality is unearthed immediately upon introduction, when the author states, “It was a wise and resourceful ship rat and had all the cunning and ferocity of its race.” (Jenkins, par-7), and then further intensifies when the story reads,
“He thought bitterly of the rat’s smooth body. Of its unshrunken muscles. Of its sleek fur. And suddenly, as in his hatred he envisioned rending it limb from limb- suddenly, he saw it in a new light. From a thing to be hated and destroyed, the rat suddenly became a fascinating, an infinitely desirable thing.”
(Jenkins, par- 28).
Not only does this transcend the rat’s importance in the story, it just verifies how powerful survival can be as, although it was with the desire to consume it, it translated the absolute contempt the man felt for the rat, into an almost ravenous desire. Without question, the element of greatest importance in a survival story is
Inheritor by Frank Roberts, and Side Bet by Will F. Jenkins, Side Bet prevails as the
better …show more content…
And there was the island, which was not more than fifty by fifteen yards in extent.”
(Jenkins, par-1)
The author describes the setting so thoroughly, yet beautifully, as if he was painting a mental picture for someone who had never ventured outside before. On the other hand, while the setting is equally as important in the story The Inheritor, it is not described as well or with as many substantial details for the reader to properly immerse oneself into the scenario. For example, the sentence, “They were on the only high land for miles around, a peaked hill known as Lone Pine because it had one tree on it.” (Roberts, par-2), does not provide the reader with a lucid vision of the scene, and is quite bland. Furthermore, the setting of Side Bet creates a much more compelling story. The notion of being stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean with no understanding of how far away the closest human being is seems a lot more daunting than a hill surrounded by a flood. Not only was the setting not as interesting in The Inheritor, the story also fails to articulate the setting as well as it could have, which also hinders how well one can imagine the characters …show more content…
Aside from the humans, the animals of the story retain some distinct characteristics as well. In The Inheritor, the animals exhibit very predictable behaviours, true to their primal instincts, while in Side Bet, the rat almost seems to develop a persona of its own, well beyond what one would expect from a rat. The rat’s vicious personality is unearthed immediately upon introduction, when the author states, “It was a wise and resourceful ship rat and had all the cunning and ferocity of its race.” (Jenkins, par-7), and then further intensifies when the story reads,
“He thought bitterly of the rat’s smooth body. Of its unshrunken muscles. Of its sleek fur. And suddenly, as in his hatred he envisioned rending it limb from limb- suddenly, he saw it in a new light. From a thing to be hated and destroyed, the rat suddenly became a fascinating, an infinitely desirable thing.”
(Jenkins, par- 28).
Not only does this transcend the rat’s importance in the story, it just verifies how powerful survival can be as, although it was with the desire to consume it, it translated the absolute contempt the man felt for the rat, into an almost ravenous desire. Without question, the element of greatest importance in a survival story is