When a person reads a lot, favorite writers and characters become a small family. Moreover, a person gets to know author’s style. Hence, in future, it will be easy for the reader to recognize the author. For this assignment, I had to compare two short stories of Stewart Edward White: The girl who got rattled and The two cartridges. In this comparison essay, I will suggest that the both short stories have a lot in common not only in the style of writing but in protagonists’ characters and actions.
The protagonist of both stories is Alfred. In the first story, Alfred is described as
“He was a little man, and he was bashful.” (White, The girl who got rattled)
/>
In the second short story, the author gives a more detailed description of this man:
“He did not look much like a sheriff, for he was small and weak and bald, and most childlike as to expression of countenance.” (White, The two cartridges)
However, in the both stories the author mentions that Alfred’s appearance did not disturb him from being a respectable man. It becomes clear from the very beginning that, regardless Alfred’s appearance, some people were even afraid of him. He gained all the respect, because he knew the Prairie better than anyone else did. Moreover, he knew habits of all the Indians tribes nearby. In the story The girl who got rattled, a reader can notice how good Alfred recognized people from the Sioux tribe.
The second protagonist was Billy Knapp. From the first story, The girl who got rattled, it is not rather clear what Billy Knapp is. In this short story, he appeared only twice: in the beginning and in the very end. However, in the second story, The two cartridges, Billy Knapp is the protagonist. The story told by the author, refers to the times when Billy was driving stage between the Prairie and Deadwood. However, in this story, Billy does not play a very significant role. In the second part of the story, the stranger fights arm in arm with Alfred against the Indians. The stranger is a person who did not speak much to anyone but Alfred. When Billy was asked whether he was meant to fight, he pointed to the stranger stating that he was the man to protect them. He was right. The stranger helped Alfred fight with Indians. They had only two cartridges and did not kill all the Indians. However, they were saved by Alfred. The story The two cartridges showed that Alfred knew Indians so well that he could predict their actions.
References:
White S. E. The girl who got rattled. N.d. Web. 18 Feb 2014
White S. E. The two cartridges n.d. Web. 18 Feb 2014
