Comparison Essay Sample: The Shining Houses by Alice Munro and On the Rainy River by Tim O'Brien

"The Shining Houses" by Alice Munro and "On the Rainy River" by Tim O'Brien are two short stories that have a common theme. This essay will explore how the two works are similar and different in terms of the situations and themes they present.

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The story "On the Rainy River" is an exploratory narrative that depicts the shame in war. Such themes as self-embarrassment as the major motivational factor have been developed in the story. O'Brien is torn between the decision joining the War or fleeing to Canada. And although he makes attempts to flee, he is too embarrassed and of not joining the war and he returns back home to join the War. Tim O'Brien also feels guilty for doing what is against his will. To him, the War does not make sense, and it does not feel alright. He interrogates his motives, and in the story, O'B rein returns us to the beginning of his decision that examines the audience with the causes and the effects of the war.

The story also employs some aspects of emotional truth. Later, O'Brien explicitly states that the story was meant to use facts and details not necessary to give an account of events as they had happened but instead, accurately giving an account of the events and feelings experienced in the situations. Thus the story also conveys some aspect of Irony despite the specific preoccupation with reality. For instance, it is a fact that the real Tim O'Brien received a War draft letter and struggled to hide and also contemplated fleeing to Canada. However, there is no evidence that O'Brien spent six days in a Tip Top Lodge or even fled at all.

Thus the story generally describes the hard decisions and confusions men and women who fight for their country experience when their principles and the demands for their communities conflict. The writer also demonstrates the reluctant situations by men and women who fought in the Vietnam War.

The Shining Houses by Alice Munro, on the other hand, is one of the first stories Munro wrote. The story main theme is the replacement of the older generation by the new generation. The young generations mainly Mary's friends, mistreats the older people. The author also illustrates the individual's opinions and differences in the formation of the community. However, Mary who is the protagonist in the story is not happy about how the young generation is treating the old generation. Like O'Brien in the "The Rainy River", Mary to is torn between two sides. On one side, she wants to be vibrant like her fellow young generation and bring change to the community, on the other side, she is remorse and feels guilty of being part of a group that is taking away memories of the older people. When the story beings, Mary is interested in past stories, more so, those that give accounts of the generational differences in the past.

Another theme in this story and was also illustrated in O'Brien story, is that there is a conflict of interest. When Mrs. Fullerton is required by the Municipal to leave her property and move to a nicer house, she is reluctant because the reason she lived in her house despite the conditions, is because the house carried memories of her life with her husband and children. Similarly, Mary finds herself in a conflicting situation. While she finds the courage to stand up for change, she is also concerned about Mrs, Fullerton and her house.

In addition, there is also the conflict between self and the community. In the story, Mary is the only person who does not agree with Mrs. Fullerton neighbors on moving Mrs.Fullerton house. The conflict comes in when Mary, who is a youth and a stakeholder of the new generation advocating for change, she finds herself fighting against the community. To her, she feels moving Mrs.Fullerton is wrong but at the same time, she does not want to be against the community wishes.

From the two stories, it is evident that both authors main themes illustrated the conflict between oneself and the community and Conflict of interest in both stories. However, Munro also illustrates another theme that O'Brien does not Change. For Munro, she has demonstrated that change is inevitable even when the bringers of change are not informed of the consequences. In both stories, the authors demonstrate the difficult situations individual find themselves especially when their principles conflict with those of their societies.