Comparison of Filthadelphia by Brain James and the Wrath of Dawn by Cynthia Leitich Smith - Essay Example

? Number] Comparison and Contrast – Filthadelphia and the Wrath of Dawn The essay aims to present literary critique of two short stories including Filthadelphia penned by Brain James and Wrath of Dawn written by Cynthia Leitich Smith and co-authored by Greg Leitich Smith. The essay compared the main theme of the stories and talks about the main themes presented in the story. The essay compares the life situations faced by the protagonists and the way they choose to get out of their problems and lesson learnt from their lives. The essay supports the main idea with the help of quotes and examples from the stories and unveils that the main characters of the stories were having problem with the present state of their lives and by the end they found the way to get out of the situation however, the nature of their problem was different and thus the way of getting out was also different from each other’s. The short story Wrath of Dawn by Cynthia Leitich Smith and Greg Leitich Smith is basically meant for the children ages 12 and above. The story depicts the tale of a geek but blended family where members were not living with each other for long and since they don’t have strong relationship and understanding with each other however, as the story precedes the protagonist of the story succeeded to convince others in favour of her thoughts and people arguing with her starter appraising her. The author depicts the tale of a girl Dawn trying to adjust in new situation evolved due to the second marriage of her mother with a person having one daughter and two son of her age group. She had difficult time in accepting the new relations and getting adjust with his new relatives. She was very much depressed and disappointed as she felt that people around her are not justifiably treating here and most of them use to make fun of her and tease her. She reflects her difficulties in adjustment with the new family member when her mother said "You know your father.... Step father, I say" (Cynthia and Graig, p141) The story delicately depicts the inner emotions, struggle and feeling of the girl having very straight forward and realistic approach towards the life and society. In the beginning she has everyone against her but by the end of the tale she used her strength to change the mind and thinking style of the other people. Like Wrath of Dawn, the story Filthadelphia also narrates the tale of a young individual however the life situation he was facing was entirely different from that of the girl in the story Wrath of Dawn. Filthadelphia by Brain James is based upon the tale of the narrator Brendon who was having boredom in dry winter season and thinking about something to do. He got engaged in a glass game with his friend that ended up messing up the things. He then went for a dangerous and crazy drive with his friends to get weeds. The main intention of the friends to went out to a dangerous trip was just to escape from the boring situation they were having for some time and they were ready to take risky challenges just for change and adventure in their lives. Every stop sign in an adventure, every intersection like a test that I am not sure he's going to pass (James, p31) The narrator of the story reflects the boredom that young people often face when they have little activities to do due to harsh and unpleasant weather or any other factor. The story shows the love for adventurer and change within youth that make them ready to take up difficult trip just to beat their boredom. He describes the situation “It feels like Philly's been dry all summer. Like a desert wind came rolling down Broad Street and swept its way down every side road to leave us with nothing to smoke” (James, p28). The narrator was having little problem with his friends because he very well understand the nature and thinking style of all his fellows. This understanding makes it easy for him to take decision in life. The main character of the story shows great understanding of the people around him due to which he was in position to move with them easily and decide their next steps and actions. Unlike the girl in Wrath of Dawn, he has little problem adjusting with others. He has his say right from the beginning of the story and despite boredom he was not facing the problem of adjustment with people and getting tease and tense by their words and actions. However, her efforts to explain herself and feelings were succeeded and brought her close with the relations she was not ready to accept For me, And for my sister, who whistle again.... One more with feeling (Cynthia and Graig, p141, p150) The analysis of the main characters of both the stories unveiled that there are some similarities and differences in them. At first they belong to the same age group in which the individuals often lack patience and stamina to tackle the problem. They want quick solutions of their problems and lose their temperament quite early. Dawn also lost her temperament and became emotional when she realized that people around her are not listening and agreeing with her. Likewise, the narrator of Filthadelphia was also looking for immediate solution of his problem and he wanted to get out of the current situation at soonest possible time. The nature of narrators of both the stories seems very similar from this standpoint however, their problems were different. Dawn seemed to have more serious and sensitive problem as compared with Brendon because she was emotionally disturbed due to the change structure of her family and her move to the step father house along with her mother. She was having people around here that clearly expressed their intentions to impose restrictions upon them and their dominating natures and commanding style was become source and depression and disappointment for her. On the other hand, Brandon was not having any such problem. He does not have to face the opposition from his family neither he was facing any emotional struggle due to his family. He was simply having problem of boredom and for this he was thinking of different ways. He was accompanied by cooperative and understanding friends that ultimately made it each for him to get out of the problem. In his own words “A momentary lapse of boredom” (James, p35). But Dawn really had very hard time as she has to struggle for making people agree with her. The people were not cooperative and friendly with her and most of the time she has to face their opposition but it was due to her strong personality, thinking style and strong sense of expressions that she became able to make people think in the same way as she was thinking. The analysis of these stories unveiled that there are different types of life problems faced by people in their live. The causes of the problems might be different and their nature also varies from person to person however there is one thing common among all the problems that the personality traits and environmental factors determine the way individuals can get out of their problem situation. In Wrath of Dawn, the gild controlled her anxiety and convince other people due to the strength of her personality whereas in Filthadelphia, the boy succeeded to get out of his problem due to the cooperation and understanding of people around him that allowed him making the right decisions and escape from the unwanted situation. Work Cited David Levithan. This is push: an anthology of new writing, US: Scholastic Inc., 2007. Print Holly Black, Cecil Castellucci. Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2010. Print Read More