Comparison and Contrast between the Poem, "Dogs Death" By John Updike and

the Short Story, "A Fathers Story" By Dubus



Comparison and Contrast between the Poem, "Dogs Death" By John Updike and

the Short Story, "A Fathers Story" By Dubus

Introduction

Death is an undeniable reality and certainty of life. Benjamin Franklin defines that there is an important image associated with the death that it is always inevitable (Franklin, 1789). Death has different meanings in different ideologies and concepts. In religion it is the separation of soul from the human body and in medical terminologhies death it is consider as the stage where all the body functions cease and all the organs stops working. This is the most debatable subject of the social values and religious rituals. This subject is also addressed in different literary patterns with different meanings associated with it by various poets and writers. Whatever the way and means people choose to define death, no one can deny its certainty.

The theme of 'death and Impermanence' is the focus of comparison between the works of two different literary masters to be judged on the same parameter. One is the poem "Dogs Death" by John Updike and other is a short Story, "A Fathers Story" By Dubus. The main reason for selecting these works is that, both these literary works belonging to different genres are focused on the same theme. This will assist in better understanding of conveying same theme through different ways and its impact on the reader. There are various differences with these two styles of work which depends on the readers' understanding of the text. There is a general concept associated with the poem that it always has a lasting impact on the readers, but it is not easy to understand the complex structure of it. On the other hand, stories are easy to understand, but stories do not have deep impact, especially short stories. The main reason for this less impact is mainly because it not easy to compile all the ideas and thoughts in less words with maximum effect. There are various similarities between the poem and short stories. One of the major similarities is that both are in short and condensed form. According to Brewer (2008) there are various similarities between a short story and a poem. The short story is in many ways similar to the poem (Brewer, 2008, p.79). It directs the attention towards the understanding of content, form and style of both the poem and the short story.

Thesis Statement

The theme of death and impermanence is the basis for comparison and contrast between the 'Dog's Death' by John Updike and 'A Father's Story' by Dubus.

Discussion

There are various differences between a poem and a short story. Short story is completely different from a poem in its composition, texture, content, form and style. There is one striking difference between the poem and poetry is that poem is a rhythmic composition with the stanzas in it, while story is very simple and plain text with paragraphs in ...