Preview

Red Dress and Snow White Comparative Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1810 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Red Dress and Snow White Comparative Essay
Comparative Essay

Fitting in is always an issue in the world of teenage girls and some girls have better outcomes than others. “Snow White” by Grace Hu is a story about a teenage girl named Mary who is an albino. Mary struggles to be accepted because of her scary white exterior. Also she has low self confidence from being teased by her peers. Mary also only has one true friend that begins to drift apart from her. Another story that deals with the issue of acceptance is the story “Red Dress”. “Red Dress” by Alice Munro is a story about a teenage girl entering her first year of high school. She fights to be accepted and decides to go to the school dance with her one friend Lonnie, despite her terrible clothes put together by her crazy mother. Acceptance in “Snow White” and “Red Dress” is affected by appearance, family influence, and being left out by their one true friend.

Both the protagonists in “Snow White” and “Red Dress” struggle with acceptance based on their appearance. The protagonist in “Snow White”, Mary, appearance as an albino affects her being accepted. An example of Mary’s appearance affecting her being accepted is when Mary reminisces of how when she was in elementary school kids used to tease her by chanting “Mary, Mary quite contrary, how’d you get so white and scary”. This shows that kids who didn’t understand her condition chose to tease her instead of trying to accept her for herself. Another example of how appearance affected Mary being accepted is when the boy at the party comes dressed up as Mary. The boy and his friend then continue to have more fun at Mary’s expense when the boy asks for a miller lite and his friend quips “you mean a miller white”. This shows rather than get to know Mary and see that she was a nice person, he and others decided to judge her solely based on her appearance and mock her by painting his face white, and wearing a Mr. Bubble shirt, obviously dressing up as Mary. The protagonist in “Red Dress” also struggles with

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    While growing up Jessica tried to fit in with her peers. She did not want to be seen as different. When she joined the basketball team, she started to feel more included. In high school she joined more activities and participated more. Despite all that she had done to blend in, the author realized that she stood out among her classmates. She was always the leader while everyone tried to keep up. Her friends seemed immature around her.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Clare wants to return to her black culture, while Irene wants to accept the white’s lifestyle. Though Clare passed as white, still her sense longs for her black culture. On the other hand, Irene lives loyal to her black race, even as a live member of the Negro Welfare League, but still her inner conscious approves the white’s mannerism even when she is not passing as white. Therefore, both Clare and Irene’s double consciousness forces them to reach an integrated identity. Through this novel Nella Larsen strongly articulates an integrated identity is plainly impossible. Passing is not just imitating the behaviors, mannerism, and gestures of another race it also includes discarding the former race to which one belongs to. It is easy to emulate but difficult to get rid of one’s real race, here neither Irene nor Clare want to do that. They try to avoid being placed on either side of the race but unfortunately, the society constructs race to be divided into two adverse and antagonistic identities of black and…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When comparing the Disney Snow White and The Crystal Casket, there are many differences in the stories but they do have a couple qualities that are the same in both. In both stories the main antagonist is the stepmother, unlike in some of the other stories. Although in this story the stepmother hates her step daughter for no apparent reason except for the fact that stepmothers are supposed to hate their stepdaughters in this story. The stepmother does not treat her stepdaughter well in this story. The main point being that the daughter is sent every day to the terrace to water a pot of basil, which is very dangerous since she could fall into a large river below. When ten days has past after the daughter, Ermellina, was taken by an eagle, the…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Colour in film can have many different meanings. The red of a character’s dress could signify the importance of that person, the desire they either possess, or incur. A family banding together may wear similar colours to represent each individual being part of a single unit. When a person dressed in all black enters the story, the audience is immediately intrigued by the mysteriousness of the character.…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    What does symbolism add to a book? It adds morals and depth to the novel. It makes the reader learn something interesting or lets them gain knowledge of something that can change their outlook on how they perceive things. In the novel Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, it is about a perplexed boy, Holden Caulfield. He has trouble dealing the issue of growing up. One of the major symbols in the book is Holden’s red hunting hat. Salinger uses the hat to signify Holden’s need for comfort and his adolescent problems and pressures.…

    • 754 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The characters are repeatedly being subjected to images of whiteness offered through movies, books, magazines, toys, and of course advertisements. Early into the story, Pecola gushes over Shirley Temple’s beauty, and later on Mrs. Breedlove spends her days at the movies admiring the white actresses, wishing she could be in their place. The association between beauty and whiteness pushes the idea of beauty beyond the body’s exterior, making it a signifier of one’s value and worth. Many characters in the book believe their beauty means who they are in society, community, and…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Growing up I can remember how I felt after watching the Cinderella story. Inspired by the rags-to-riches fairy tale, I can remember hoping that maybe someday I could be like Cinderella. I never imagined the story I knew all-too-well would have been dramatically altered from its original version. Though the lesson remains the same, comparisons reveal numerous differences between Walt Disney’s Cinderella to the earlier Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella: Or the Glass Slipper”. Variations are noticed in characters, events, and outcomes of this world-famous…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Wintergirls Essay

    • 2234 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In this reasearch, we will focus on the elements of literature; particulary on the theme, character, plot, and point of view of the novel “Wintergirls” by John Steinbeck.…

    • 2234 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Everyone knows the story of Cinderella, the girl who finds her prince with the help of a magical fairy god-mother, transforming her previously horrible life to a fabulous depiction of every little girls dream. Generations of children around the world have heard the story Cinderella countless times, however most people are unaware of the multiple versions of this legend. The European version of Cinderella ,“Aschenputtel” written by the Grimm Brothers consists of the female protagonist being treated as a servant, yet somehow manages to leave her cruel family behind for her Prince whom she lives happily ever after with. Another version of Cinderella is the Native American tale “The Algonquin Cinderella”, where the female protagonist is also mistreated by her family, however she is fortunate enough to “find” her own prince in her village. Although both stories present similar morals, both vary in details such as characters, settings,and use of magic.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cinderella wanted to go to the ball with her step mother and two step sisters but she had not finished her dress for that night because her step mother made her work all day while her step sisters worked on their own dresses. When it was time for the ball she noticed her two mouse friends had helped her finish her dress while she was cleaning all day. When her step sisters noticed their own material was used on Cinderella’s dress they tore it off and ruined the dress. Cinderella was left at home for the night while they went to the ball until her fairy godmother showed up and helped her make her dress to go to the ball! The prince finally found the right person when Cinderella showed up at the Royal Ball and they danced all night, but when…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Grimm Brothers’ “Snow White with the Seven Dwarfs” addresses many issues in our real life, although the tale is not real everything is imaginary, it is far from a vacuous work devoid of real-world significance. But the story discussed feminist issues of women’s gender roles, standards of feminine beauty, and aging, “Snow White” also addresses the sociological subjects of child abuse, neglect, and mistreatment. As Snow White is a weak protagonist and neglected by her stepmother because she has no strength since her father and mother died; she pitied by the huntsman also she is not an intelligent girl that’s why she tricked by her stepmother repeatedly. Her evil mother makes so many murder plan to kill her such as bodice, combs, and poison apple. But the Queen’s…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many versions to the famous fairy tale Cinderella. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s German version of Cinderella, “Aschenputtel,” is a household story of a young girl named Cinderella who eventually marries a prince. This specific version of Cinderella gave birth to the Walt Disney version of Cinderella that most Americans know today. However the stories are very different. The Grimm brothers’ version is much darker and gory then the classic American version. Small differences like this shed a different light on Cinderella and her journey to a “happy” ending.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Breedlove Family

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Pecola whom no one notices and sits all alone in the back of her classroom since she is black. However the new girl is lighter and favored by everyone the teachers and the students both white and black whom don't bother but respect her. “When teachers called at her, they smiled encouragingly. Black boys didn't trip her in the halls; white boys didn't stone her, white girls didn't suck their teeth when she was assigned to be work partners…”(62). Maureen Peal who is respected and treated fairly however black girls would get tripped on the halls, and teachers won't pay attention to them like Pecola but in Maureen’s case it's different. This reveals the power of colorism that people believe that being lighter is an advantage over darker people since it began with the whites whom believe they are superior. Colorism is an issue within one's race, the discrimination within a minority group discriminating darker skin people. It's unfair Maureen gets fair treatment than Pecola who is just a girl that would be scared all her life. Not only being rejected and not loved by family, but hate herself for being black hate everyone who is black since it's so bad for everyone else. Colorism confuses people and brings someone's self esteem down, it hurts even more when it's with your own people classifying each other judging one's skin color thinking he/she is not…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Evil Queen: (looking in mirror, grooming) (mirror box with a hole) Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who’s the smartest of them all? (Colors flash, then Snow white’s face appears on mirror) Oh! No, no, no! That just won’t do! (recovers mirror)…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gender role stereotyping permeate everyday life. Children are usually educated about gender roles very early in their lives, probably before they learn to walk, certainly long before they begin school. The behaviors that cause of these gender roles often go unnoticed but their effect is endless, writer Joan I. Glazer analyzes these views when she states, " when you read books to children, be aware that you are showing them one perception of how the world is structured" (Glazer 134). Although parents, teachers, and other socializing agents communicate gender roles to children at an early age, the issue of how children's literature influences gender roles, is a major factor to individualizing specific roles for females.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays