Theme Comparison Essay

Marcus B & Joseph B
Period 4 English 10
Final Draft
Theme Comparison Essay

People regret sacrificing valuables in order to impress people. This happens often in a person’s lifetime. The actions of your peers may affect the way you act due to peer pressure. “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” and “Catch the Moon” are somewhat similar in themes. Both books have an individual character that changes due to another individual’s expectations or standards.
“The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” the main character is the narrator. The main conflict in the story is the fish that the narrator caught and the reason why he let it go. The resolution was to continue fishing, to quit liking Sheila, and to move on being himself and not changing for anyone else.The main character changes his hobbies, goals, and motivations just because of a girl. For example, in the book the two characters were on a date and they were sailing to a carnival. The narrator threw a line out to catch a fish while they were sailing, and out of embarrassment and trying to fit in with her he cut the line to one of the biggest fish he’d ever caught. Similar to the second book the theme are people regret sacrificing valuables in order to impress people. Especially if it’s to do something negative in your life.
In “Catch the Moon” the main character is Luis Cintron. The main conflict of the story was that Luis had to find a hubcap for this girl that he thought hated him, and he wanted to change that and make her like him. This is only so because he liked her. The conflict was resolved by Luis finding the hubcap, polishing it as much as possible, then at midnight delivering it to Naomi’s window. For example, in the story he stated that “ ..he waited to give to her the first good thing that he had given anyone in a long time.” This shows that he is obviously doing something different than usual. But by doing so means that he is changing and the only reason why he is changing is because of Naomi, all because he wants her to like him. So, like the first book the theme is people regret sacrificing valuables in order to impress people. Except this time it was to change him from a hooligan to a gentleman.
“The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” and “Catch the Moon” have very similar themes. This is so because in each book a character changes in response to another character. Each main character in every book, like an individual in real life, gets influenced and changes to impress their peers or just to fit in. This act is wrong. People should be themselves and no one should change that. The main character of each story did, regardless if it was for a good or bad cause.

Internal & External Conflicts in "The Bass, The River, & Sheila Mant"

In the story "The Bass, The River, & Sheila Mant" their were internal and external conflicts. An external conflict in this story is that W.D. Wetherell had deep emotions about a girl named Sheila Mant. He really liked this girl but he did not know if she liked him or felt the same way. In internal conflict is that he knew he had a big fish on the line but he didn't want to reel it in because he thought Sheila would judge him for liking to fish. As a result of the conflicts the narrator realizes that some choices that are made in life might not always be the way they think that choice is going to end up.