Essay Ideas

For my comparative analysis, I have been thinking about comparing Ruth from Housekeeping  and Jenny from the short story "Lawns". At first these characters don't seem like they have anything it common at all. I mean,  Jenny comes across as your average college girl before we find out about her horrific past, while Ruth is much younger, living in a secluded, poor, and dark town during the 40's or early 50's (the exact time period is unclear). However, when you get past that and just strip the characters down and look at what is really there, you seem some similarities. 


Both Ruthie and Jenny have had traumatizing experiences in the past. They had no one to look up to or confide in their whole lives. In a way their parents abandoned them both. Even though Jenny parents never physically abandoned her, they neglected her and did not fill their roles as parents. With no one to look up to they had no idea what they were supposed to grow into, how they should behave, what is right and wrong. After Jenny experienced her father raping her, she was taught that it was okay to take advantage of people. Ruthie was taught it is okay to desert your family after her mom committed suicide, leaving her daughters under the care of her mother, and her aunts uprooted and never looked back. 


Having a strong upbringing is extremely important in the development of a child’s identity, and for these two characters, the lack of parental example and general neglect led to a corrupt identity. Due to the trauma of their past and the insecurities they face, both characters latch themselves on to another person in order to cope with their identity crisis. It is not until they separate from these people that they realize and understand their true identity. This is what I am currently exploring and want to delve more into: the relationships that formed and the dependency that they created in order to survive