Sawdust And Hunting Husbands: A Comparative Analysis

All Roads Lead Nowhere In both "Sawdust" by Chris Offutt and "Hunting Husbands" by Jo Carson, we see characters willing to go to great lengths to try and get what they think they want in life. Nonetheless, they appear to be trapped in an endless cycle, and it appears for them as though all roads lead nowhere. Despite the effort each makes to try to escape the life given to them, the battle they are fighting is one in which they seem destined to lose.
"Sawdust" takes place in a small Appalachian community where people live very simple lives, and those who are born there rarely ever leave. "Sawdust" revolves around a young man named Junior who decides that he wants to try to pass the GED test, the equivalent to earning a high school degree.
In "Sawdust," Junior takes ridicule from everyone and spends hours studying to prove that he can pass the GED. In "Hunting Husbands" June Bug embarks on a long road trip, spending money which she cannot afford to spend in hopes of finding a man who will treat her right. In each case, the main character seems to have something special about them, Junior being smart and June Bug being beautiful, which represents a way for them to get out of the situation they were born into. In both situations, it looks as though the main character might have broken the cycle and found a way out, but for one reason or another does not jump on the opportunity. One may only guess why, after such an effort to change their lives, they do not take the opportunity when presented. We are only left to speculate whether it was fear of change, loyalty to their roots, or some other factor holding them back. Despite the effort each put in to change their situation, in the end each character finds themselves back where they started, and each seemingly comes to the realization that they are fighting a battle in which there are no