Compare And Contrast Essay

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Compare and Contrast Essay

English literature is a subject that is enriched with a number of novels, short stories, poetry and other forms of writing. There is no limit in selecting a genre for your writing in literature. This comparative analysis is about a short story “Death by Landscape” by Margaret Atwood and “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by David Herbert Lawrence. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian novelist, poet and a literary critic, and D. H. Lawrence was a famous English poet and writer. Both stories depict the role of the protagonist's isolation from the world and from their surroundings with different formats and sequences. This essay will discuss in detail the difference between the types of isolation through which both main characters went through in the stories.

In the story of "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" the writer discusses the life of a young twenty-seven-year-old woman Mabel. She is unbearable by her brothers after their father’s death. Mabel is the protagonist in this story and she is depicted as the one who became quiet and isolated from the world after her parent's death. She has no clue what will she do with her future as her brothers have their own plans and are least concerned about her life. Mabel is regarded by her brothers by the name of a bulldog due to her facial features which hurts her even more. She kept her contact very limited with her brothers and the world. However Dr Jack Fergusson is the character who turn things over, being a young doctor he becomes curious about the behaviour of Mabel. He tries to initiate a conversation with her but due to her reluctant behaviour, the attempt becomes unsuccessful. Later one day he follows Mabel to her mother’s grave without being noticed and then to a pond. Mabel feels an immediate connection with the world of her mother and decides to end her life with pure happiness. (Lawrence, David Herbert, pp. 976). When Jack saves her life and helps her to regain her consciousness, she becomes astonishing. She is shocked to see that for the first time someone valued her presence and her life after her parents. She falls in love with him and confesses her love for him, she tries to convince him that he loves him as well. Jack at that time is very much confused about the situation only responds that he really want her. Although he had no intention of loving her, still he commits in front of her. They later get married and Mabel's life becomes joyful again, all because of him. As Jack was well aware of the fact that if he leaves then Mabel might go into isolation again.

The second story "Death by Landscape" is about a widowed mother, Lois. She is only connected to her art collection, which she displays on the waterfront wall of her new apartment. She keeps herself isolated from the world and busy in admiring her own artwork. She feels scared as one of her paintings show a landscape which depicts a very painful memory from her past. She remembers the life that she spent in the camp during WWII and how she lost her friend Lucy at that time. Lucy's death had made quiet and reluctant towards the world as she terribly misses the strong bond of their friendship. (Atwood, Margaret, pp. 08) She recalls the incident that occurred Lucy’s death that happened when they did a long excursion during which her friend went to urinate but never came back. She only heard a scream of Lucy and since then people looked all around for her but she was never found again. Lois the protagonist is unable to believe that her friend is no more and she lives a dual life one through her painting and the other in real. However, at the end she accepts it as a part of herself. Lois never recovers from the isolation that she went in after her beloved friend died.

Both Stories depict the isolation of the protagonist after the death of their beloved ones in different structures. In the first story, Mabel became isolated after her parent's death and even tried to end her life as she felt a connection with the other world. Whereas Lois continued to stay isolated from the world after her beloved friend died.

Work Cited

Lawrence, David Herbert. The Horse-Dealer's Daughter. Feedbooks, 1922.

Atwood, Margaret. Death by landscape. Bloomsbury, 1991.