Compare and Contrast Essay – May B. and Scraps of Time: Away West 1879
Have you ever faced so many challenges that they seem to be doors in a hallway that go on endlessly? Have you struggled to go through them, and they keep coming like dominoes when you knock one over, and the rest fall down with that one domino? One problem occurs, and then you do something to try and fix it, but it only gets worse, and causes another problem, and that cycle continues again and again and again until you feel strangled in problems, chained down, locked inside a cage wanting to be free. The novels May B. and Scraps of Time: Away West 1879 show the theme: Sometimes in life, there will seem to be a wall, blocking your path, so find ways to go around it, even if you struggle along the way is shown through the Characters Everett and May B.
Authors Mckissac and Star Rose both teach us that sometimes in life, there will be a wall blocking your path, so find ways to go around it, even if you struggle along the way which shows the similarities between Everett and May. Both Everett in Scraps of Time and May in May B. struggle with challenges that they will learn how to face on the way to getting their goal . First, in Scraps of Time, Everett just got out of working for the captain of the boat
The Camel’s Back because the captain found him hiding in the bottom of the boat with the cargo, while he was trying to escape the farm where Gus was. Once he got off the boat, he got attacked by two men, one black and one white. They took all of his money, but Billy Breeze rescued him just in time, before they actually hurt him. Billy let him stay in a stable with the horses, but Everett did not complain, anything was better than cold, wet, ground. In the text it states: “ I can find someplace. In a doorway near a warm chimney. I can sleep anywhere…Come on, you can stay in the stable where I work.”( pg 24-25 ) said Billy’ This shows that he is so determined to get west, and to face all of the challenges of being a black young male, and being discriminated against, and like May, who was in a male dominant world, she also faced challenges that seemed to block her from getting to her goal. In May B, May gets sent away to the Oblingers until Christmas, because her fathers wheat crop failed and they needed money. She did not want to go, and her mom did not want to either, but since back then ,the world was more male dominated, she went along with it and May was sent away. In the text it states: “ I won’t go. Ma and Pa want me to leave and live with strangers. I won’t go. Why not Herim? I think but I already know: Boys are necessary. You’ll bring in some extra money.” (pg 4)This shows that May did not want to go, but she had to because Hirem could not go because boys are necessary which shows the power that men had back then. This shows that both Everett and May Get discriminated because of their roles, a black male and a young girl. In Scraps ofTime, Everett decides he wants to go west, he realizes that to go west, you need to go in groups, and the next group leaving was in the spring. He did not want to wait all that time, but people told him that the weather was extreme and he could not leave now. In the text it states: “ But a group is leaving for Kansas come May, after the weather breaks…May! That was four months away.Kansas? That wasn’t where Cole was.”( pg 45) This Demonstrates that he did not want to leave that late, and Kansas wasn’t close to where Cole was either, which is a problem because he wants to join the tenth Cavalry once he is old enough. In the novel May B, May is stranded all alone in the Oblingers soddy, and a snow storm occurs, and she realizes that she is not at all prepared for it, when she looks all around the house and only has the starter jar and flour,and salt. In the text it states: “Stumbling toward the stove, I reach for my jar of starter. It can’t freeze; I’ll need biscuits. In bed I huddle in a ball, two quilts about me, the starter jar against my cheek.” (pg 144)This illustrates that she is facing a challenge, now that she realizes that she is running low on food and the starter jar is almost frozen, she knows that she will need food to survive the winter, and she will need the starter. This shows the similarities of the characters Everett and May by the theme : Sometimes in life, there might seem to be a wall blocking your path, so find ways to go around it from the beginning, middle and end of the story.
In contrast, May and Everett are very different. In scraps of time, Everett has just run away and is on the ship as a stowaway, and is not scared to go away from home, even when he got attacked by two men, one white and the other black. In the text it states: “Everett was a stowaway. He was hiding in the hold of a supply boat called The Camel’s Back… He’d slipped on board the night before.” ( pg 5-6)This shows that he is not scared of getting lost and not getting away from home because he has challenges back home, he does not like it there at all because he does not like farming, and sees the west as a place to start over. Next, Everett does not like his home, because he dislikes farming and Gus refuses to let the farm go because their parents had told them to keep it before they had died, but Everett does not care, he just wants to get away from the farm. In the text it states: “ He was sick of crop failures… Pa left the farm to us. Gus had said the other night. We don’t have to share crops with anybody.” (pg 7) This shows that Everett does not like his home, and decides to leave, but May is forced to leave, and she likes her home. My last example is that Everett at the beginning does not like help, and he has to learn to accept it from others, unlike May who feels as if more people need to help her. Finally, in the text it states: “ Everett snuggled under the two quilts that Billy had given him… He was warm, his belly was full and most of all, he had found a new friend.” (pg 32) This shows that since he learned to trust others, others knew to help him, and before he asked for help, he faced a challenge but now that someone is helping him, he feels safe.
In contrast from scraps of time, May B. teaches us that sometimes in life, there will seem to be a wall blocking your path so find ways to go around it even if you struggle along the with a character that does not want to go away from home, but gets sent away from home, not on her own accord, unlike everett, who runs away from home, because he wants to, not because he has to help another person with their house. May is tired of the old soddy and tries to head home alone but then, as soon as she can’t see the soddy, gets scared and runs home, (unlike Everett who was not scared to leave home), and while she is running back, steps in a hole and sprains her ankle. First, in the text it states: “And suddenly, I’m running back! I’m running, my heels slam into the hard packed dirt…Pain rips through my ankle, I tumble to the ground and curse the hole I’ve just stepped in… My ankle’s purple. Those stupid boots.” (pg 115-116)This shows that she is scared to go far from the soddy, and a challenge for her is that now that she sprained her ankle, she can’t go anywhere. My next example is: is that May loves her old home, and does not want to leave when her parents tell her she has to go to the Oblingers until christmas, and when she is there keeps having flashbacks of her old house and experiences. Next, in the text it states: “ I won’t go. It’s for the best, you packing up and moving to the Oblingers soddy. Ma’s brush tugs. My eyes sting.” (pg 3-4) This shows that she does NOT want to go, but is going because her parents say it’s for the best and they need extra money, and it is a wall blocking her path because the Oblingers don’t like her using her reader, and since she came to the Oblingers, she could not go to school, and when she is older, she wants to become a teacher, but if she does not go to school, she will no be able to be a teacher. My final piece of evidence is when the Mrs. Oblinger runs away, Mr. Oblinger goes after her, and leaves May all alone on the soddy in the middle of the lonesome prairie right when winter is just coming around, she realizes that she needs help, and was not given enough, unlike everett who received a lot of help. The author establishes: “I am afraid in the dark all alone. I am afraid… Fear flashes inside me. Pa never left Hiram and me without protection.” (pg 62)This states that May is used to having a lot of help, but now, she is alone, and she needs to learn to learn to take care of herself, and be more independent, especially now that her life is on the line. In conclusion, the characters May in May B and Everett in Scraps of time show the theme: Sometimes in life, there will seem to be a wall blocking your path so try to find ways to go around it, even if you struggle along the way due to their similarities and differences. In conclusion, these examples show the theme: sometimes in life, there will seem to be a wall blocking your path, so find ways to go around it, even if you struggle along the way is shown through the characters May, in May B. by Caroline Starr Rose and Everett in Scraps of time: amay west 1879 by Patricia Mckissak. Have you ever felt lost, and not know what to do, you are in a high pressure situation, with your life on the line, every move matters, every choice puts your self in danger, chained down, until you try to make a move, but somethings stops you in your tracks to get to your victory- a mistake. A mistake that seems to swallow you whole, a monster V.S. Yourself. Have you ever gotten so close to your dream, but then something cuts you off? If so, that has happened to everyone, they have struggled with challenges, wrestled them down, but not able to do it. They have tried, tried and tried again, only to find that they are not able to do it. But, if you keep trying, maybe you will be the first one to succeed, if you don’t, then remember to keep trying and never give up, even if you struggle along the way.