Compare and Contrast of Two Literary Works Essay Example

hard-working life; yet, she is dressed in her Sunday best.

Knowing her time is coming to an end, in ill health she staggers in the freezing weather to go to church. Even though her best dress is old, torn, and tattered, her face is weathered and filled with age that shows no emotion, she is determined to walk down the road alone from her home to go to the white church and worship where she knows she is not a welcomed visitor. At the church, the men and women stare at her in disdain, wondering how she dared to enter their sacred church. Ultimately, she was rudely escorted out of the church back into the cold weather where she sees Jesus and walks with Him.

Suddenly, she could move as she had in her younger days, and she felt healthier and more energetic. In reality, she had died while walking back down the street, but none of the white people in the church knew what had happened to her. Narration These two stories are similar in many ways, and they have their differences as well. Both stories are narrated in omniscient third person. Neither is being told or written by a character in the story. In third person point of view, the person telling the story refers to others as “he, she or it” but never as “I.” The omniscient third person narrator has knowledge of the specific time or era in which the story takes place. Emotional Both stories also appeal to the emotions of most people who think that any type of racism or segregation is ridiculous.

The reader would

wonder how in “The Welcome Table” people of a church could make such an old, fragile, and obviously very religious woman be subjected to the freezing weather to die. Similarly, the innocent murder of the baby in “Country Lovers” can easily make one angry. Both stories want to make you cry and rejoice, but not necessarily in that order.

One difference in the two stories is the tempo that they are written. “Country Lovers” begins with two young people who are obviously in love being happy together, albeit secretively because of the stigma that it can bring to the white man. The story ends sadly with the murder of the baby and Thebedi taking up for Paulus one last time as she states that she did not see what he did to the baby. “The Welcome Table” begins more somberly, but the tempo picks up and she seems happier as she walks with Jesus, although she has apparently died.

One story begins more happily but ends tragically while the other starts somberly but ends with the old lady happily walking with Jesus. White vs. Black Both stories share the obvious dislike of the unfair treatment and negative view of black people, from authors from each race. Nadine Gordimer is a white Nobel Prize winner who has lived all of her life in South Africa (Nadine Gordimer - Biography, 2012). Alice Walker is an African-American Pulitzer Prize winning author from Eatonton, Georgia, who was very well educated at Spelman college in Atlanta (Alice Walker, 2012).

Both of them were human rights activists. Both stories accurately portray the tough times that black people have

to endure versus the easier life of the white people. Whites were better educated, afforded more opportunity, and had much more money than blacks. “Country Lovers” clearly shows how Thebedi could not afford to give Paulus any gifts that were remotely as good as the ones he gave her. Her only gift that she could give him was her body, which she did willingly. She did not receive any education while Paulus was away at school and even experimenting with girls.

Similarly, in “The Welcome Table”, Walker described in great detail the apparent harsh times that the frail old lady had been through, from her wrinkled elbows and ashen skin to her being the color of “poor gray Georgia earth, beaten by king cotton and the extreme weather” (Clugston, 2010). Conversely, the white women were “Leather bagged and shoed, with good calfskin gloves to keep out the cold” (Clugston, 2010). In both stories, the black people had served the whites. In “The Welcome Table,” the old lady had known many of the white people all of her life.

The preacher who she apparently has had a “familial” relationship with throughout many years lovingly refers to her as “Auntie” and tells her that she does not belong here and this is not her church. The usher, too, similarly called her “Grandma”. In “Country Lovers” the poor black laborers worked for the rich white people in harsh conditions. Conditional and Unconditional Love As mentioned, both stories tell of tough racial and discrimination issues that plagued the times they were written, although any separation of color was illegal. During those days, love was very much conditional,

not unconditional (Bauer, 1992).

Both stories are filled with the symbolism of love and hatred, life and death, good and evil. Despite the obvious love and affection in both stories for Thebedi and the old lady, the white men are still racist. For Paulus and Thebedi, there is obviously a childhood attraction between the two although they kept it secret because interracial relationships in this era were illegal. Even though they know it is wrong to love each other, they still do. Their childhood love and attraction they felt for each other resulted in them growing up to be more than friends.

The crime is represented in the birth of their daughter; therefore, Paulus must make her go away. Being the racist that Paulus’s father has raised him to be and his need to cover up their crime, Paulus makes the decision to murder his own child. Despite his love for Thebedi, Paulus’ love was conditional. During the trial, Thebedi makes the attempt to be angry with Paulus, to stand up to him for the death of her daughter, however as the trial lingers on and she has Njabulo’s child, she finally comes to understand her place in the world of the white man.

Likewise, in the second story, the preacher and usher obviously know the old woman. They have a great deal of love and affection for her. They prove this love and affection in the way they refer to her as “Auntie” and “Grandma. ” They know it’s wrong to have such adoration for the old woman, but they do it anyways. Their ignorance and refusal to accept this woman

into their church did not necessarily cause the death of someone they cared for but if the outside elements were bad enough when they threw her out of the church then it could have ultimately caused her death.

They will always have to live with the not knowing what happened to her. The preacher and the usher in “The Welcome Table,” want to be good by whispering affections to the old woman and gently telling her she is not allowed to be in their church. Paulus tries to be good by sharing the outside world with Thebedi and in his love for her. However, they all revert to evil when they stop to think or see how their peers feel or would feel about the situation. When they thought about being ridiculed for changing their beliefs or trying to break free from the traditional racists mold, it became too much for them.

Racism Never Ends Well The loss of innocent life in both stories is tragic. In “Country Lovers” a very young baby girl is cruelly murdered by her biological father so that he can avoid any embarrassment from any of his white friends and relatives. This family could have continued their lives in peace because the daughter had a dad, Njabulo, who cares for the little girl and accepts her. In “The Welcome Table”, the frail old lady is put back out in the freezing weather out of the church where Christians are supposed to be accepting of everyone, not put them in danger or disown them.

Another point made by both stories is that all innocent life is affected by

racism. It does not matter how young and pure, or how old, wise, and experienced one is. The baby daughter had people who cared for her, including Njabulo who knew there was no way that she was his daughter. This was clearly shown in the way that with his hard earnings he bought her a “pack containing a pink plastic bath, six napkins, a card of safety pins, a knitted jacket, cap and bootees, a dress, and a tin of Johnson’s Baby Powder” (Gordimer, Country Lovers, 1975).

Law Enforcement Involvement One contrast between the stories is how law enforcement followed-up on both cases. In “Country Lovers”, the investigation was active as police dug up the baby’s remains after Njabulo had buried the baby to conduct a pathological investigation. It revealed “infant corpse showed intestinal damage not always consistent with death by natural causes” (Gordimer, Country Lovers, 1975). In “The Welcome Table”, an investigation is not so obvious, but some type of questioning is somewhat implied.

When reading into the details of the story, Walker stated of the white usher: “Did he call her “Grandma,” as later he seemed to recall he had? ”; and of the reverend: “Did he say, as they thought he did, kindly, ‘Auntie, you know this is not your church? ’” (Clugston, 2010). When reading, this can be interpreted as either that they tell everyone who asked about it that they were being nice to her and called her “Auntie” and “Grandma,” or they said this at some sort of cursory investigation. Racism Causes Cruelty

Both stories also show how racism can cause people who are supposed to

love unconditionally to do even the most cruel things to those being discriminated against. People of the church are supposed to welcome everyone. Walker spoke of the old lady’s choosing the church “As if one could choose the wrong one. ” Similarly, in “The Welcome Table” the one person who is supposed to care unconditionally about his biological daughter, ended up killing her to avoid embarrassment. Additionally, Thebedi, the baby’s mother, changed her story at trial, saying that she did not see what Paulus had done while in the house.

This perjured herself because it was opposite of what she had said in the preliminaries, making any of her testimony useless. As a result, Paulus was set free. Both stories have an element of love and betrayal. Both women were betrayed by the people about whom they cared. The old lady cared about the church and even served some of the white people in the sanctuary, treating them as family. However, they made her leave, which ultimately killed her. Likewise, Thebedi’s life-long friend and lover betrayed her by killing their child.

A contrasting detail would be in the relationships surrounding both women. The first being the direct death of a child caused by the women’s lover and the second the indirect death of a old woman caused by the actions of people that she loved and cared for as her own nephew and grandson. “Country Lovers” is a story about beginning a family while “The Welcome Table” is a story about an old life ending but finding a new in heaven. Seeing Past the Color of Skin Another commonality of both stories is

the ability for black people to see past color.

The irony of “The Welcome Table” is that the old woman only wants to rejoice in her faith with fellow townspeople she knows who claim to be “Christians. ” She has the ability to see past the color, the years of hurt, and anguish these white people have caused her because she believes in God and his word. However, the townspeople cannot get past her color, regardless of all things she has done for them over the years. They certainly belittle their Christian faith by tossing her away because they only see the color of her skin and not her as a whole person.

Similarly, in “Country Lovers”, Thebedi is able to see past color as she remains friends and lovers with Paulus. Also, Njabulo loves the baby even though it is definitely from a mixed race and not his own. Although Paulus is initially able to see past the color of Thebedi’s skin, his mentality eventually becomes poisoned by the rampant racism to which he is exposed. In the End? One contrast between the two stories is that “Country Lovers” has a definite ending with a trial and verdict of the baby’s father.

Although the ending may not have given readers the verdict that they wanted at the trial, there was definite closure after Paulus was found guilty. However, the demise of the old lady in “The Welcome Table” was more vague. The white people are left to wonder what happened to the old lady. The story stated that “Silly as it seemed, it appeared she had walked herself to death” and

the brisk walk “had worn her heart out” (Clugston, 2010). Several black families that lived on the street said they had seen her high stepping down the road at times talking to herself.

There seemed to be less of a closure to the old woman’s case. Conclusion These stories are a perfect example of how racism and segregation has separated cultures all over the world for many, many decades. Imagine how the world would be different today if our ancestors had stamped out racism and segregation long before they did. Sadly, there is still racism and segregation going in this country today. With each new generation comes the hope that it will be better than the one before it; that everyone can live in peace and harmony together.