The following essay will contrast and compare two short tales
The following essay will contrast and compare two short tales, "Would You Please Be Silent, Please" by Raymond Carver and "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie. These stories contain many similarities, but they are also distinct and distinctive, with minor differences. The narrative "Would You Please Be Silent, Please?" is about forgiveness, but "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" is about family legacy. Nonetheless, both stories share many characteristics that allow them to be classified as stories about love but not love stories. Despite being about love, Mr. Carver’s story, as it was mentioned above, it is not a love story, but rather a story about forgiveness and redemption. Ralph’s personal spiritual quest is a tough challenge, through which he comes in order to deal with the fact the he was betrayed. Ralph from Carver’s story is similar to Jackson from Alexie’s story because they both seem to appear as the victims of chance. Their troubles come from outside, and it evokes them to make their energy at self-realization the aim.
Similarities in Characters
Firstly, Ralph was nicknamed Jackson in the school for his professional drinking habit, and Jackson is the name of the main character in Alexie’s story. Secondly, both main characters are drinkers and drink during, before or after the most important moments of the stories. Then, it is crucial to keep in mind that both authors make it noticeable how the main characters count their money and act according to what they have in their pockets. Even though Carver’s story does not address the financial side, as it is in Alexie’s story, it still contains a couple of remarks regarding the money spent by Ralph during his little Odyssey of self-realization. Jackson from Alexie’s story spends only as much as he owns and counts his money as well because he wants to take his grandmother’s regalia from a pawn shop. These three details show that the two main stories and their characters have some similar features. What new does it say about the story? Alcoholism may be one of the main reasons of the problems that the main characters experience. It may be so because Ralph’s wife and the man with who she cheats Ralph have their intercourse during the ride for alcohol supplies and because of the condition of both Ralph’s wife and her lover. Jackson form Alexie’s story is a heavy drinker and a fully-ranked alcoholic, which is one of the features that portray him as Indian. Being drunk, he gets into a fight with a bartender and then sleeps on the railroad tracks, which puts him in quite unpleasant condition of stress and depression. But Jackson doesn’t show any of it, he continues to carry his mission with enthusiasm. Nevertheless, alcohol is criticized as one of the Jackson’s problems, which makes him go through negative experiences.
Dealing with the Events of the Past
Both stories have yet another similar detail, which is quite important for the analysis and interpretation of the stories evaluated here. Both Jackson and Ralph in their quests deal with the events of the past. Ralph suddenly recalls his 2 year old experience, while Jackson tries to save grandmother who dies more than thirty years ago and whose regalia have been stolen even earlier. In both cases, Ralph and Jackson reevaluate something from their past and live their present through the reestablished self-realization. It means that even though some events may be technically in the past, they can be very much present in the lives people lead currently. Even though two years passed since Ralph’s wife cheated him, it took him exactly these two years to realize how this affects him and what to think about it (Carver, 93). Jackson was just lucky to find grandmother’s regalia one day, but it feels more like the whole life of Jackson, broken and shattered, tough and unstable, took place because his grandmother has died of cancer without her regalia.
Sherman Alexie’s Story
Sherman Alexie’s story is about legacy because of the Jackson’s love to his deceased grandmother. Despite the fact that his grandmother is long dead, Jackson aims to make things right by returning something to the spirit of his ancestor. Jackson illustrates how Indian people treat their relatives and how they value their roots. Both stories are about something different than love, even though the main characters’ motivations are brought by the feelings of love.
Differences in Themes and Quests
It is now time to point out elements and details from the two stories that are originally different. Despite all the similar parts, what makes each story unique is a theme. Raymond Carver’s story is about forgiveness, and Alexie’s story is about blood ties and family legacy. These different themes lead to different philosophical implications and moral conclusions regarding the messages implied in the both short stories.
Ralph’s Quest vs. Jackson’s Quest
“Will You Please Be Quiet, Please” is about a painful experience of betrayal and enormous human effort that is need to overcome it. Ralph deals with what most of the men are never ready to deal with – being betrayed by wife. It is a very important fact that Ralph’s wife doesn’t give any explanations of why she did it, what she did, and it all seems like a drunken accident, even though it was not. Ralph is bothered by the fact that his wife allowed to be taken and to make love. Moreover, it is a contradiction in the wife’s remarks about the night in question that triggers the whole situation. Ralph’s wife has not said anything about the accident before, but then stated that she had a kiss with her lover. The way in which his wife so easily came up with new information made Ralph angry and opened old wounds (Carver, 85). When Ralph’s wife says she was kissed, it is similar to the moment when Jackson sees his grandmother’s regalia in a pawn shop – these are the moments when something form past reveals itself to affect the present and change the future.
One of the most important differences is the fact that in Carver’s story, Ralph’s quest is forced by the way his wife behaved and triggered the whole tragic situation to be revaluated. On the other hand, in Sherman Alexie’s story, Jackson makes up his own quest and does it voluntarily for his own good (Alexie, 2003). Therefore, even though both main heroes find themselves in a path to self-realization, one of them does it spontaneously on his own, while the second one is forced to do it due to the circumstances and grief.
Different Reactions to Misfortune
Even though both main heroes are beaten in the stories, each of them reacts to it differently. Jackson doesn’t pay much attention to his misfortunes, but as for Ralph, a family man, his quest was full of stress, and that is why he demands silence when he returns home. The stories show how hard it is to overcome something that threatens to become dangerously lethal for a human soul. Ralph wants to forget or, in the first place, never know it because he loves his wife and could not understand how or why she could do something like that to him. He feels betrayed even after two years since the accident because he actually loves his wife more than she loves him (which is why she cheated him). Even though he realizes it, he makes the best possible thing and continues to love her despite the fact his love was played with so inaccurately.
As for Jackson, there is no romance because his strongest feeling is a platonic love to his deceased grandmother, a family feeling. This love established Jackson’s feeling of legacy and the place he occupies among his native people. Not only Jackson knows, honors and respects his roots, but he is also willing to do much more for them. Even though it was deep under the surface, Jackson went on his personal quest for himself, trying sub-consciously to give his own life some meaning. He also does it so that his grandmother’s spirit may remain alive in his memory, showing that Indians have different religious notions of spirit. In any way, family roots are alive when the descendants remember the previous members of family. Jackson does not have many close friends or relatives, and that is why he values his quest so much and treats everybody he meets like a family member or a friend –he is deeply sensual, emotional, and caring human individual.
Overcoming Troubles and Finding Meaning in Life
Both stories address their chosen topics through love and with its help indicate how human life can change when something beloved is tested and challenged. In both cases, main heroes succeed in overcoming their troubles and bringing sense to their lives, which is yet another similarity between the two brilliant stories discussed here.
Works Cited
Carver, R. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please. New York: Penguin, 2001. Print
Sherman, A. What You Pawn I Will Redeem. (2003) Retrieved from:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/04/21/what-you-pawn-i-will-redeem
