In What Ways Are The Stories "Your Shoes" and "Flight" Said To Be Similar.

In What Ways Are The Stories “Your Shoes” and “Flight” Said To Be Similar

“Flight” and “Your Shoes” are both similar in their own ways. The authors Doris Lessing (from Flight) and Michele Roberts (from Your Shoes) both try to express the idea of the older person seeking to restrain the younger one. It explores the feelings and actions of these people and how they cope with their sorrows.

“Your Shoes” is about a mother whose fifteen-year-old daughter has just run away after an argument. “Flight” is about a grandfather who lives alone and is loosing all his grandchildren to their husbands. They both express themselves with things that they find important in their lives. For “Your Shoes” – a pair of shoes, and for “Flight”- a bird.

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The Grandfather in “Flight” is quite selfish, by not wanting his Granddaughter Alice to get married to her boyfriend. I have evidence supporting this, and you can tell when he says, mourning, “ She’s the last, can’t we keep her a bit longer?” This is quoted from line 90 when he’s speaking of his granddaughter to his daughter as if she is some sort of pet or toy. There is selfishness in “Your Shoes” too but interpreted in a different way. The mother in the story talks mostly of the bad childhood she had with her mother instead of worrying about her daughter, e.g., “She loved you more than she loved me. It isn’t fair.” and “My mother was like you, she liked drink” (referring to daughter). These all show that is slightly self absorbed and if you read it closely you sense a hint of jealousy.

At times, it seems as if the mother and the grandfather resent the actions of the young. The grandfather says quite a lot to do with youth, “violent-bodied youth”, “young body”, “young girls” and “escape from the youth”. With that, it also gives out the impression that he is jealous of the relationship. However, the mother expresses these feelings differently in “Your Shoes”, in an old-fashioned way, and at the same time discriminating, assuming and speculating the youth of today. For e.g., “It’s not very nice having to imagine you mixing with people like that”, talking about her daughter mixing with people of her own age that are drug addicts and hang around tube stations. Also, when she says, “We weren’t spoilt. Not like your generation” it makes you dislike her character.

Symbolism is used in both stories as an act of compassion and replacement. The mother has the shoes while the grandfather has the bird. Towards the end, the way the mother behaves gives you the idea that the shoes symbolise the daughter. She treats them like a baby and you can tell this when she says, “I hold you to my breast and rock you like my mother never rocked me, You’re so small and pale. Let me hold you while you cry” She sounds insecure and has completely lost control of everything. However, the grandfather has the bird that symbolises his granddaughter which is slightly more realistic. He treats the birds with great care although sometimes teases them, “Content, he rested the bird lightly on his chest” which shows that he loves it but then he held out his wrist for the bird to take flight, and then caught it when it was about to spread its wings, which relates well to the story. In the middle of this tale, his granddaughter gives him a bird to symbolise herself when she leaves, but towards the end, he lets go, gives freedom to the bird like he did to his granddaughter.

“Your Shoes” is written in the style of a letter, using the first person, whereas “Flight” has the characters being written about, using third person and objective.

I find both these stories very emotional. Although “Flight” is written with a lot more emotion and you can tell the way the character is feeling, “Your Shoes” has the same storyline and is just as powerful, if not more.