The two short stories 'The Half Brothers' and 'News of the Engagement' both deal with the theme of mothers and sons compare the ways the authors write about this idea.

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THE HALF BROTHERS BY ELIZABETH GASKELL

NEWS OF THE ENGAGEMENT BY ARNOLD BENNETT

THE SHORT STORIES, ‘THE HALF BROTHERS’ BY ELIZABETH GASKELL AND ‘NEWS OF THE ENGAGEMENT’ BY ARNOLD BENNETT BOTH DEAL WITH THE THEME OF MOTHERS AND SONS COMPARE THE WAYS THE AUTHORS WRITE ABOUT THIS IDEA.

The two short stories ‘The Half Brothers’ and ‘News of the Engagement’ differ in terms of tone and emotional feeling between a mother and son and the authors portray this in different ways, however they both use the theme of widows and marriage.

‘News of the Engagement’ differs from ‘The Half Brothers’ in many ways. The author in ‘News of the Engagement’ uses a completely different tone to the other short story. Its tone is slightly humorous and self-mocking. The mother states, “That’s Mrs Dawson’s new servant, but she needn’t think I’m going to lend her my best, because I’m not.” “I shouldn’t if I were you” I supported her. This shows a short of kind and loving bond between the mother and son, at the same time with a sense of happiness about them. There is also a sense of intimacy and shared experience between them.

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The relationship between the mother and son in ‘News of the Engagement’ is also very open and nothing is kept from each other. The son discusses, “She knew all my friends by name.” This shows that they never kept anything from each other. However it also shows that the mother was protective, as she knew of everybody that her son mixed with, inferring that as a mother she felt it was important that she protected her son.  

The relationship between the mother and son from the outside seems perfect and faultless. However it really is not like ...

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