7.09Shortstory Comparison Essay

7.09Shortstory Comparison Essay

English IV

Rough Draft of Comparison Essay

Think back to when you were little and afraid of the dark. How did you handle it? Did you hide under your covers and pretend you weren’t there? Did you run super fast to turn the light on? Or, did you stay up, scanning the room, ready for something to jump out at you? Everybody handles their fears differently. By looking through the plot, characters and point of view of Beware the Dog and The Open Window we can see how two very different people react when put in a fearful situation.

The Open Window’s plot described a constantly nervous man, Framton Nuttle, on a vacation to let his nerves take a break. He meets a young girl, Vera, who tells him a scary story of people who had gone out hunting long ago and never returned. After she finished he was already spooked. When people come out of the woods, matching the description of the characters in the story, Nuttle gets so scared he runs away quickly.   The plot of Beware the Dog, however sets it’s scene in one of war. An injured soldier, Peter Williamson, wakes up in a strange hospital room after surviving a plane crash.   He uses his observation skills to recognize the hospital he’s in belongs to the enemy. After discovering the horrible truth, he stands his ground and responds exactly how he was trained.   So, while Mr. Nuttle ran away from fear of a story told by a little girl, Peter Williamson kept his bravery in the face of a very real enemy.

The characters are described well in the stories. Framton Nuttle was described as having bad nerves. He was timid and introverted. He was perpetually nervous. He was always focused on how something could possibly hurt him. He was even nervous about the fact that it was unhealthy to be so nervous! On the contrary, Peter Williamson was not solely focused on himself or how something could affect him, but the success of his country.   When he was focused on himself, he was still trying to prove himself a brave, honorable...