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The Girl vs. Super-Girl
Introduction
‘Girl’ is a story about a girl and the nature of her relationship with her mother. The other story, ‘Volar’, is about a girl who dreams of becoming a supergirl. The two stories have quite opposite themes. They present details of two entirely different characters. These characters do not exist in the stories in reality; rather they are the characters longed for. In ‘Girl’, the character explained is a description of the ideal girl by the mother to her daughter so that she can adopt the same characteristics. ‘Volar’, on the contrary, gives details about the ideals or wishes of a coming-of-age girl. This essay compares the two stories based on their settings, plots, characters, and the point-of-views and descriptive techniques used by the authors in writing these stories.
Settings of the Stories
‘Girl’ gives an account of the uncompromising, one-sided conversation between a mother and her daughter. The mother continues to talk about the ideal character of a girl from start to end. She never lets her daughter explain her preferences. The story is set in a conservative society where women are supposed to limit themselves to household work. They are not allowed to enjoy their autonomy conferred on them by nature. Whereas, ‘Volar' is an account of the limitless dreams and wishes of a young girl who has just reached adolescence. She belongs to a mediocre family in an urban society. The story is an imaginary description of what the young girl aspires to achieve.
Plot
The story, described mostly in the second person, is a long “Do’s and Don’t’s” list of characteristics that are being told by the mother to her growing daughter. The mother says a lot of things so that her daughter can be able to fit in her society well. She is scared and so she exclaims, “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread.” Since the society is conservative and male-dominating, the mother wants to get all her freedom of choices away from her. She advises her to become a lady who is ever-obedient to men. The mother instructs the young girl, “this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease." She intends to incorporate an attitude and behavior in her daughter, which used to exist in women of her age.
‘Volar’, on the other hand, has been described in the first person and tells about a girl who is used to read comic books in her early adolescence. She dreams of herself to get transformed into a super-hero character and she has become able to fly in the sky. While she details the particular dream she often had during those days, she gets bigger, stronger, and prettier than she is. She exemplifies, “Sleek and hard as a supersonic missile.’ She tries to peep into the houses of others to know about her favorite things. She is amused by recalling her dream at times, especially in the morning lying her bed with no intention to disturb her parents’ privacy.
Characters of the Stories
‘Girl’ has two characters, a mother and a daughter; and ‘Volar’ has three characters involved, a girl and her parents. The character of the mother in the former is of a stereotypical woman who wants to see her daughter the same way she is. She does not want to allow her to pursue her dreams and make her choices. The daughter's character is not clear, as the writer has not given enough details about her. However, it can be suggested that she would be the same woman in her adulthood as her mother. In the latter, the girl displays a dual character. She is a real girl as well as the supergirl of her dreams. As the super girl, she explores the impossible and do unbelievable things. In reality, she feels lonely as she spends most of her time in her room reading fantasy books. She does not want to intrude into her parents’ privacy, as she narrates, “It was their time together at the beginning of each day and even at an early age I could feel their disappointment if I interrupted them by getting up too early (Mays, 2017).” She is playful, lively, and smart. She inflicted in her dream, “I blew a little puff of my superbreath into his fireplace, scattering his stacks of money,” narrating the character of their landlord.
The Writers’ Point-of-views and Descriptive Techniques
The author of ‘Girl' shows the intention of conveying the intensity of the mother's commitment to shaping the character of her daughter according to the norms and traditions of her society. She is a woman and has enabled the reader to go through the concerns of a mother belonging to previous ages. She deliberately narrates all the instructions of the mother in one sentence to indicate her anxiety, fear, and passion.
The author of ‘Volar’ tends to identify numerous things through her story. She points out a young girl’s aspirations, activities, attitudes, and perceptions. She describes the characters of the parents such as they are a usual couple, who have worries of everyday life, who secure little time for romance, and who fear their landlord. She uses words that vividly explain the incidents.
Conclusion
The two stories tell two different characters that a young girl can follow. Both the characters of the ‘girl’ and the ‘supergirl’ do not exist in reality in the current situation of the stories. The character of ‘girl’ is to be imposed on a daughter by her mother, and the ‘supergirl’ is idealized by an ambitious young girl.
Works Cited
Mays, K. J. (2017). The Norton Introduction to Literature. /z-wcorg/.
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