Write an essay comparing the two stories "Turned" and "The Good Corn".

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

Tom Foot

Yr 11 english

Write an essay comparing the two stories “Turned” and “The Good Corn”

The short story, “Turned” was written in America in 1911. It is about a contemporary family, living a rich lifestyle; I quote “In her soft-carpeted, richly furnished chamber.” The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in the USA in 1860. Her father deserted the family shortly after her birth, this left her Mother poor and Charlotte feeling isolated.

Throughout her childhood Charlotte Perkins Gilman strived to gain independence and freedom. She started working very early; she needed to feel like a self-sufficient human being. In 1884, she sacrificed her freedom and married. She gave birth and shortly after fell into a depression. Her physician instructed her to relax; she was forbidden to write or paint (her two passions). To save herself from a life that was destroying her, she summoned her last reserves of will, took her daughter and left her husband.

Once fled, she toured, giving lectures and established a boarding house in California. On her income she supported her mother and her daughter. She was a socialist and also a strongly opinionated feminist. Because of her consent travelling, Charlotte’s daughter decided to live with her runaway father. Feminism was not accepted in America at the time, many sexual inequalities were evident. She faced a public outcry and lost all of her social standing. She was classed as nothing, considered an “untouchable” because she refused to conform to the “norms” of excepted female behaviour. She then wrote “Women and Economics” which denounced Women’s financial dependency on men. She expressed a wish to build day-care centres to liberate women from childcare and free them for work. In 1900 she remarried, her husband died thirty-four years later. A year later, in 1935, she took her own life. She considered this her final stand. She felt that she should die before she became a liability to anybody. Throughout her life she believed in: emancipation, socialism and equality. All of these were very topical in the USA at the time.

The second short story, The Good Corn is set in the 1940s. The story takes place on the Mortimer’s family farm in rural England- “For twenty-five years Joe Mortimer and his wife lived in a valley, getting a living from raising hens and geese. The author, H.E Bates (Herbert Ernest Bates) was born on the 16th May, 1905 in Rushden, Northamptonshire.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Bates was a novelist of reputation and wide popularity. Although Bates had become a well-known writer when producing novels about the countryside and agriculture, he gained real fame in World War 2, when he was commissioned as a writer for the RAF. Between the start of war, in 1941 and the end in 1948 he published war related novels such as: The Greatest People in the World (1942), Fair Stood the Wind for France (1944) and The Jacaranda Tree (1948), earned Bates a new reputation as a novelist of power.

Throughout his life he had been developing subtlety, depth, and strength as a novelist. It was not until later life when Bates realised his true potential. The now televised “The Darling Buds Of May” helped H.E. Bates to achieve a new height of power, with the realism and admirable “Larkins” family. He rounded off his lustrous career with the publishing of autobiographical works, The Vanished World (1969) and The Blossoming World (1971), in which he retained his power to capture the mood of the passing moment.

In 1974, shortly after the publication of his last novel he passed away.

I will now explain the two stories in more detail. “Turned” is about a rich, childless family called the Marrroners’. Mr Marroner appears loving and friendly “Mr. Marroner had frankly admired her” but is driven by social pressure and is held to his conservative constraints. When his wife left him without his knowledge ‘he could not bear to ask, “do you know where my wife is?” ’ Mrs Marroner, his wife, is intelligent

and well educated but not really content living an oppressed lifestyle. She suffers through social class; the main point in the story is that of Mr Marroner’s emotional progression and the change of her opinions, “ignoring her feelings now as she had before ignored her thoughts.”

The structure of the stories, Turned and The Good Corn is very similar. Both involve what appears to be a happy, strong relationship; Mr Marroner is quoted to send- “long, loving, frequent letters”. Mr Mortimer is supportive of his wife’s mental discrepancies, in conversation to a doctor, he appears caring, stating: “It upsets me to see her break her heart like that” and such. It becomes apparent that this is not the case. The male impregnates the family servant or labourer and a resolve is met.

The most important difference between the two short stories is the resolve.

Paragraph Four: “The Good Corn” is set on a farm in rural England. Throughout the story the author utilises the backdrop as a theme, using metaphors about the family farm. The relationship between Mr. Marroner and Elsie and the eventual pregnancy is reflected by imagery of nature. The state of pregnancy is constantly shown through natural images. The theme of nature is also very important to the story line of the story. Pregnancy is considered the most “natural” event to occur in ones life and for Elsie this is very true. For Mrs Marroner however, getting pregnant is not easy, this is “unnatural” and her psychological state reflects this.

“Turned” is set in a rich American household, the opposite to “The Good Corn”, urban people. The story challenges the cliché of success and money results in happiness. (more)

Both stories are very different structurally. “The Good Corn” utilises a chronological system whereas “Turned” is portrayed through flashbacks. The themes of the stories have great relevance to the structural devices used. The apparent reason behind the structure of “The Good Corn” is the recurring theme of nature. The rhythm of the piece is natural and thus the simple structure. “Turned” appears to be more emotionally complex and this again is reflected by the structure.

(Turned-flashbacks, change, emotions, forgotten past)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a strong feminist; she believed in emancipation and rights for women. The characters and resolve used in “Turned” reflect her left-wing conceptions. Mr Marroner is a strong willed and independent women, these traits are both very similar Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s own and are that of a role model, the character also relates to the author’s opinion on women’s relationship in society, she believes they deserve more provenance. (quote). Elsie is vulnerable and naive but needs understanding; this understanding is provided by the strong female figure, Mrs Marroner. Again, it is a left wing obligation to care for others in spite of their position and their past. Mr Marroner is selfish and arrogant; this is the view of males that Charlotte believes and has chosen to present. The author’s reasons for all of these characters are quite obvious (explain). (Women stay together)

H.E Bates however,(research than do)

“Turned” ends without a clear resolve, it is left open ended. “The Good Corn” reaches a positive, traditional resolve.(more)

30/04/07

Y:\svn\trunk\engine\docs\working\working\32328.doc