Comparison of stories - Coursework Example

The stories do take different perspectives of life and the characters live in different situations. But both of them contain important lessons about humans and both root on the values of tradition and culture. However, despite many similarities they share in their central themes, these stories differ in many aspects. The main similarity between these stories is that both of them portray teenaged females as central characters. They depict the life of teenage girls and their perceptions and confusions in the process of growing up into womanhood.

Both Oates and Jones illustrate how relationships do form in the lives of their teenage characters and their attitude towards boys. Both protagonists are also unable to select the right person as their partners. In short, both the protagonists fail to know what is good for them and make wrong choices in their lives. Connie in “Where are You Going, Where have You Been,” estranged from her family, finds solace in hanging out with her friend around a drive in cafeteria, teasing boys. In her defiance to her family, she makes the wrong choice and decides to leave with Arnold Friend, who befriends her by creating an impression that he cares for her.

Later, she realizes that he is not the kind of person she has wanted. Similarly, in “Bad Neighbors” also, the lead female, Sharon Palmer, falls prey to the charms of Terence Stagg and encouraged by her family, marries him only to find later that his charm is only a facade and he does not actually care for her. Thus, both the stories are similar in their portrayal of females who make wrong choices. Another major similarity is that both short stories illustrate the influence of families in forming the characters of children.

Oates portrays Connie as an insecure teenager who becomes defiant because of the treatment the members of her family mete out to her. Thus, from the girl with “a quick, nervous giggling habit” she transitions into a teenager who finds no qualms about flaunting herself in a drive in restaurant in her friend’s company, enticing senior boys (Schakel & Ridl p.). This appears to be a consequence of her mother who reprimands her to quit “gawking at yourself” (P.). Her father, who hardly finds time to spend with her and her sister, also is not supportive of her.

Thus, she grows up as an insecure child and becomes estranged to her family. On the other hand, Jones portrays Sharon as a confident child. She grows up in a family that is quite supportive of her. Hamilton’s “little gate on the porch” represents a symbol of security to shield his children who “were too small to know all the ways the world beyond the gate could hurt them” (P.). He also does not misjudge when his daughter touches Neil on the shoulder. Having grown up in a family that supports her, Sharon becomes positive in her attitude.

Thus, both the stories emphasize the fact that families have a crucial in the formation of the behavior of children. Both stories also share a common element in them that the female characters in these tales assess their lovers wrongly. Basically, it transpires that these people have focused on the physical appearances and external charms of their counterparts and never bothered to evaluate their characteristic traits or the real values they