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Differences David Garcia Devry University January 24th, 2014
Does your home and surroundings affect the way you grow up? Westbury Court, by Danticat describes how her environment led her to guilt. While, They All Just Went Away, by Oates describes how her environment led her to curiosity. Both authors different environments produced different attitudes towards life. In Westbury Court, Danticat expresses how zoned out she was during her childhood . When Danticat was young, she would finish class, run to Daycare, pick up her brother and watch General Hospital. There wouldnt be a care in the world when her show was on, she didnt even know any of her neighbors. Even the day of the fire in her building, she wasnt aware of it. Danticat says I didnt know a fire started until two masked, burly firemen came knocking on our door. Before that she was watching General Hospital unaware of everything that is happening. She could have died in that fire if the firemen never came knocking on the door. She admits to her mother that she couldnt hear the kids screaming or smell the fire because she had been watching General Hospital and was too consumed in the intricate plot. After a while she started noticing all the things she wasnt noticing about her neighborhood in Westbury Court, a murder of guy who lived in 6F, her fathers friend dying of cirrhosis, the theft of her fathers expensive camera and the Haitian immigrant that got show and killed. Danticat mentions, maybe I am struggling to phase them out of my memory altogether. Not just them, but the fear that their destiny could have so easily been mine and my brothers'. This makes Danticat feel guilty about her youth, not noticing things the way she does now. While in They All Just Went Away is about Oates curiosity on what a home and house is. Oates starts off strong, "I must have been a lonely child. Already indicating how her
childhood must have been. With a working father and a mother that didnt keep a direct eye on her, she had no choice but to explore and see new things. Oates had difficulty wondering why she was intrigued by abandoned dwellings, but in reality she was figuring out whats a House and whats a Home. Oates is in awe when she thinks to herself how can someone live in house and leave the house like if nothing ever happened. A house contains a home until its deserted by the owners. Oates says, Where a house has been abandoned--unworthy of being sold to new tenants, very likely seized by the county for default on taxes and the property held in escrow--you can be sure there has been a sad story. She feels that its a sad story that a place someone once called home is no longer that but just a neglected house. Then finding out about the Weidels, an abusive, alcoholic father (Mr.Weidel) that beat his wife and daughter, set the house on fire and ran away to get arrested. This kept her curiosity about abandonment going. Both authors share a completely different past but their past made them into what they are today. They share differences, especially since one is a city and another in a farmland. But they share more similarities than differences; the authors were filled with bliss and unaware of things until certain tragedies happened. Both Danticat and Oates witnessed an event of fire, deaths and either leaving or witnessing a leave of a place once called home. As well as, Danticat, growing up inside a home where outside of her home, there was a fire and murders. This made her feel guilty and wanting to express it through writing instead of becoming what her old neighborhood is known for. While Oates grew up in an open plain field wondering around, opposed to Danticat, she ended up with the same faith. Your home and
surroundings do affect the way you grow up, but its up to you to grab the bull by the horns and figure what you want to do with all the knowledge you obtain growing up.
Danticat, E. (n.d.). Westbury court. Retrieved October 19, 2013, from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0 CCkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fenglish.basd.k12.wi.us%2Fmocarski%2Fcollegeenglish% 2FWESTBURYCOURT.rtf&ei=xYhiUrqgK8HCywHNnoDYAQ&usg=AFQjCNFy7xbfGmwRgg Md1JrUqF6a7tQUaw Oates, J. (1995, October). They all just went away. The New Yorker. Retrieved October 19, 2013, from http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1995/10/16/1995_10_16_178_TNY_CARDS_00037 3438
