“The Tree or Red Stars” and “The Quick and the Dead
In “The Tree or Red Stars” and “The Quick and the Dead there are many recurring themes and ideas that make the stories similar. Yet, each author had a way of relating these topics to the main characters, in their stories, that made them different. There were ideas such as politics, society and personal ideals that were confronted. Joy Williams and Tessa Bridal also had different ways of writing their stories and relating the messages that they wanted to get across. Comparing and contrasting these two pieces of literature showed how two different works can be so similar while being different. Magdalena, a child of privilege in Montevideo in the 1960s dreams of debutante balls and marrying well but is diverted by handsome neighbor Marco. As a child she befriends Emilia, a girl living in her neighborhood; as well as befriending Emilia she develops an affinity for a less fortunate woman of a lower class. Her name is Gabriela, she first met Magdalena while she was searching for trash; as Magda was playing outside her home as a small child. As Magda grows she develops an interest in Marco, which eventually develops into a marriage. With Magdalena’s maturity she becomes even more of an optimist and thinks she can fix the problems . . .
Although Magda dedicated her life to saving others and became a spy while, Alice tried to kill cats even though they were living creatures too. But Annabel worships material possessions while Emilia did not. The similarities in the stories was quite appealing. Who are thrust together by geographical circumstance one summer in the Arizona desert. There's Alice, who is filled with convictions. I did not enjoy either approach of writing that the authors wrote in. Alice is venomous about her causes ("I think not being born is ecologically responsible,") but frustrated by the fact that her actual ideas are often less precise and cutting than her catch phrases. Joy Williams book jumped around to much to even follow one character. By devoting herself to the half-living spirits at a nursing home called the Green Palms. Happy childhood memories are blended with horrific political realities. Not that long ago her mother died and now she only lives with her father. Corvus, a dark and reticent girl, silently mourns the recent loss of both of her parents and then takes dire action to purify her own life. In “The Quick and the Dead I felt there was no real plot as it seemed to jump to much and it never addressed a certain problem. As a Magdalena’s best friend, they spend most of their childhood together and have a closer bond with each other than most sisters.
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