Comparing Humanity In The Bet And Two Kinds
Common humanity recognizes the needs of all humans; these needs are what ties people together and what makes them human. There are multiple aspects of common humanity, one being the need for respect. Respect is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements”. Every single human being shares the overwhelming desire for respect, whether it comes from themselves or others. Many authors choose to incorporate aspects of common humanity in their stories, such as in the short stories The Bet and Two Kinds, where both authors reveal their character’s need for the respect of others. The Bet, a short story by Anton Chekov, reveals the need
…show more content…
This need is revealed when the girl has a mental breakdown over not being “good enough”. One night, after disappointing her mother yet again, she looked in the mirror and saw “...only my face staring back- and I understood that it would always be this ordinary face- I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made high pitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch my face out in the mirror” (Tan 2). It is not until this point where the reader can finally see the damage her mother has done, and how desperately she craves her mother to respect her and be proud of her. What triggers her breakdown is the fact that she is simply ordinary. If her mother just accepted her for who she is there would never have been a cause for her to get so upset. Additionally normal girls do not resort to harming themselves (i.e. scratching her face) unless there is something seriously wrong going on. In this case it is the need for respect that drives the child to this. If the girl simply did not care about what her mom thought about her there would have never been a cause for her to react that way. Therefore the breakdown reveals the girl’s need for respect. Common humanity recognizes the needs for all humans, one of these needs is the need for the respect of others. The Bet, by Anton Chekov, and Two Kinds, by Amy Tan, both demonstrate how this need is revealed by showing what
This need is revealed when the girl has a mental breakdown over not being “good enough”. One night, after disappointing her mother yet again, she looked in the mirror and saw “...only my face staring back- and I understood that it would always be this ordinary face- I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made high pitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch my face out in the mirror” (Tan 2). It is not until this point where the reader can finally see the damage her mother has done, and how desperately she craves her mother to respect her and be proud of her. What triggers her breakdown is the fact that she is simply ordinary. If her mother just accepted her for who she is there would never have been a cause for her to get so upset. Additionally normal girls do not resort to harming themselves (i.e. scratching her face) unless there is something seriously wrong going on. In this case it is the need for respect that drives the child to this. If the girl simply did not care about what her mom thought about her there would have never been a cause for her to react that way. Therefore the breakdown reveals the girl’s need for respect. Common humanity recognizes the needs for all humans, one of these needs is the need for the respect of others. The Bet, by Anton Chekov, and Two Kinds, by Amy Tan, both demonstrate how this need is revealed by showing what