The same title ‘Blackberries’ combines two stories written by Ellen Hunnicutt and Leslie Norris. The mention of berries is not accidental because the image of the berries goes through each story. The following essay will be devoted to comparison of these stories and finding the differences and similarities between them.
Comparing these two stories we notice the first difference which is the narration way. In the story by Norris, the events were described by the boy who made his haircut and had a beautiful cap for the first time in his life. The story by Hunnicutt was presented by the author in the form of short dialogues between the man and wife who were on a camping trip.
One should note that the Hunnicutt’s story has much less volume than the other work. Both stories describe the same period of time – the beginning of autumn. The mood of the ‘Blackberries’ by Norris is happy and mellow till the last part of the story when the quarrel begins. As for the ‘Blackberries’ by Ellen Hunnicutt, this story causes mixed feelings. Norris includes variety descriptions in his story; it concerns the barber’s in whole and the haircut process, the father’s dinner and Fletcher’s Woods. The Hunnicutt’s story contains only restrained details.
The most notable difference between these two stories is the attitude of main characters to the blackberries. The blackberries for the boy are the source of joy and the way of taking pleasure through communication with father. The berries were the factor that triggered the real reason of mother’s irritation and thus, she had the opportunity to complain about the low income of her husband. All day long the boy could see how the attitude of his parents to blackberries was changing.
For him and his father the dark berries gathering process was delightful and they wanted to share this feeling with their mother and wife. Unfortunately, the living expenses were more significant to her and the joy of life for her son has become extinct. For the principal heroine of the Hunnicutt’s story, these berries were not something unusual. The woman did not call the attention to the berries and her husband’s impulse. Only in the end of the story she began eating the berries.
Thereby we are passing to the next difference between these stories. The problem of good relations and family interaction is represented by the authors in different ways. The boy in the story by Leslie Norris goes through two models of relation with his family. Father gives him a treat, shares with the boy the most delicious pieces of his dinner and gives him an approval on the subject of boy’s new look.
Mother cares about the economic condition of the family but not about its emotional components – she worries about the high price of a cap, buys all the necessary for the dinner and reproaches her husband for his low salary. In the other story we can see indifference towards each other’s interests. While man is interested in woods, swimming, and the other pleasures of camping, his wife dreams about the theater tour. One can see that the problem of the mutual understanding is present in this story, nobody listens to each other.
Those two stories also have different endings which is another significant difference that should be noted. The Hunnicutt’s story does not end with a radical change, whereas the story by Norris shows that the boy has matured significantly during the quarrel between his parents.
Finally, one can say that despite all the differences these stories have some common features like problems within family and difficulties that may arise in the interpersonal relationships.