Mr Barclay And The Other Methods People example essay topic

Thomas Raddall's "The Wedding Gift" and Budge Wilson's "The Leaving" explore the serious problems of two main characters surrounded by people who ruined and tried to keep them away from their rights, and how they eventually made effective changes in their lives by understanding their circumstances. The characters are similar in the way they changed their unsatisfied situations; however, the extent, stability and effects of those changes are different. They bravely made effective changes in their own unsatisfied lives, and the lives of other people around them, but the one with more understanding of her rights made more effective changes. In both stories, the main characters did not like their previous situations, and eventually they bravely changed it. In Raddall's story, Kezia, who was taken to Barclays' house when she was fourteen, was forced to marry Mr. Hathaway, who is Mr. Barclay's agent at Bristol Creek. She did not want to marry him, but that was Mr. and Mrs. Barclay's decision.

Kezia left Port Marriott for Bristol Creek with Mr. Mears, who was the preacher, to marry Mr. Hathaway. In their journey, Kezia suggested to Mr. Mears that they should bundle together in a hut in order to keep themselves warm throughout the cold night: .".. she answered vigorously, '... We " ve got to roll up in these. ' 'Together?' he cried in horror. 'Of course! ... '. .. clutched him in her arms, and rolled with him... ".

(38). Kezia was trying to find an excuse to manipulate Mr. Mears to marry her; therefore, she would change her future. In the morning, when they wanted to continue their journey, she told Mr. Mears that she could not lie to Mr. Barclay and Mr. Hathaway if they asked her where she spent the night. Mr. Barclay was against bundling: " Mr. Barclay and the other Methods people are terrible set against it... bundling was an invention of the devil" (42). Kezia suggested bundling to Mr. Mears, even though she knew Mr. Barclay was against it. She had planned to change her future with a good excuse for Mr. Barclay.

Therefore, she manipulated Mr. Mears in getting married. She bravely changed her future to a happy one because obviously a person who did not have a choice in choosing her husband would have a lot of problems in convincing the Barclay's and Mr. Hathaway that she wanted to marry another person. Kezia brought up a good point, bundling, to convince them. Therefore, she made a happy future for herself by not marring Mr. Hathaway; instead, she would marry Mr. Mears.

In Wilson's story, we also see the same effective changes in another person's life. In "The Leaving", Elizabeth was suffering from a situation in which she did not have rights in her family. She could not stand up to her husband, she was not respected and appreciated by other members of the family, and she could not ask her sons to help her in her work. After she got a chance to read the book The Feminine Mystique, she decided to leave home for Halifax at midnight.

Elizabeth came back home after three days. Her husband was angry about her leaving, but this time he did not yell at her. He told her, "How come my supper's not ready, woman? ...

Shut up them damn kids, woman! ... This food ain't fit t' eat, woman!" (70). Her husband did not yell at her because he discovered that she had found out her rights; however, in the family the man had power, and her husband did not want to loose it. Therefore, he showed anger and told her to do her job. This time, although she prepared dinner and she cleaned up the house, she was not afraid of talking to her husband.

She told him that her name is not 'woman': "My name is Elizabeth" (71). Elizabeth who could not stand up to her husband and talk to him, started to express herself and change her lifestyle. Elizabeth who previously could not ask her sons to help her, started to ask them to do work. She asked her youngest son to bring some water for her daughter.

After a while, she also fixed up the attic as a private workroom for herself. She made all these changes bravely. First, she left for Halifax by taking money the family made by selling eggs. In a family that had no rights for Elizabeth, taking money that belonged to whole family required a lot of courage. The family never had enough money to travel to Halifax: "We never had enough money to have more than one ride on the Exhibition ferris wheel... ; but here we were buying train tickets...

". (66). Even though they were not a rich family, she went to Halifax. She wanted to show that she understood her rights, and tell her husband that she could manage herself. She would leave the family if she could not get her rights. She bravely changed her unwanted situation to a brighter one.

She could stand up to her husband, express her ideas, be appreciated for her work and was treated more like a human rather than a thing. Both Kezia and Elizabeth also had effects on the lives of other people around them. In Raddall's story, Kezia changed the future of Mr. Mears and Mr. Hathaway. Although, she did not want to marry Mr. Hathaway, it was for Mr. and Mrs. Barclay to decide.

Mr. Barclay wanted to keep Mr. Hathaway satisfied to continue making profit for him because "Hathaway was a most capable fellow, Mr. Barclay often acknowledged" (32). Kezia manipulated Mr. Mears to marry her in their trip to Bristol Creek. She found an excuse, bundling, for Mr. Barclay that he could not refuse. Therefore, Mr. Hathaway's fate was changed because she did not marry him. She decided to marry Mr. Mears, and they would be happy with each other. Mr. Barclay would not be happy because he might not able to keep Mr. Hathaway satisfied.

In Wilson's story, besides the situation of the main character, the behaviour and thoughts of other people were changed as well. Elizabeth changed her unwanted lifestyle by reading the book The Feminine Mystique and by her leaving to Halifax. In her new situation, Elizabeth and her husband became closer to each other, "One day, for no apparent reason, he started to call her Elizabeth" (73). She made a private room for herself and the others respected her privacy, "No one was allowed to go there except her" (73). Her husband respected and appreciated her more, .".. he often speaks to my mother as though she were more of a person and less of a thing. Sometimes he says thank-you".

(73). They were helping each other in their work, "The boys lugged up her treadle sewing machine... ". (73).

Therefore, she eventually succeeded in making changes in the life of other members of the family. She changed the behaviour and thoughts of all members of the family. They now respected each other's thoughts, they appreciated each other, and they helped each other in their work. In both stories, the characters changed their life after they understood their rights; however, Elizabeth understood her rights more than Kezia. In Raddall's story, "The Wedding Gift", Mr. Hathaway first thought about Miss Julia, the older daughter of Barclays, and then Miss Clara, the younger daughter of Barclays.

He did not ask Mr. Barclay's daughters to marry him because as Mrs. Barclay pointed out, "The older daughter... was even then receiving polite attentions from Mr. Garage... And Miss Clara was going to Halifax... to display her charms to the naval and military young gentlemen... ". (32, 33).

Therefore, they were not forced to marry somebody who they did not want to, and they had their right in choosing their husband. After Mr. Hathaway could not ask Mr. Barclay's daughters to marry him, he decided to marry Kezia, who did not have choice in choosing her husband. This provoked her to think why she could not have rights in choosing her husband like other girls. As a result, she decided to manipulate Mr. Mears to marry her, and she thought of an acceptable excuse for Mr. Barclay. Kezia only understood that she herself should be allowed to choose her husband.

She did not try to understand her rights in other aspects of her life, especially her future life. When she decided to marry Mr. Mears, she did not bother thinking of her rights for the future and for making her own decisions on the things that would be related to her. She found out her rights for solving her unwanted situation, but she did not think of her rights in other aspects of her life. Therefore, she did not make stable changes in her life. In Wilson's story, "The Leaving", Elizabeth understood her rights by reading the book The Feminine Mystique and by leaving to Halifax. In Halifax, she saw people's happiness, freedom, and specially women's rights, "Lovers strolled arm in arm, and children shrieked with laughter as they chased the pigeons.

I asked Ma why everyone seemed so happy... she said, 'Weather does things t' people'... 'and maybe some of them's free,'. .. we watched women racing to work in the morning... shopping women pulled twenty-dollar bills out of their purses as though they were nickels" (68). In Halifax, which was a more liberated city, she was trying to discover her rights and a better lifestyle for her family through other people. After she had read that book and came back from her journey, she started making changes in her life because she found out her rights. She discovered her rights as a wife, which was the ability to speak with the husband and express her ideas while being appreciated. She found out her right as a mother, who should be able to ask for help from her children. She found out her right as a person who works and needs her own private workroom.

She found out her rights to be able to change her unwanted situation, and because she found out her rights extensively, she could make effective and stable changes in all aspects of her life and even the life of other members of the family. The characters similarly had unsatisfied situations that they eventually changed, but their changes had a variety of effect on themselves, others and in understanding of their rights. Both women, who were not satisfied with their situation, bravely changed it by understanding their rights. They also changed other people's lives. Elizabeth, who understood her rights more extensively, made more stable and effective changes in all aspects of her life.

For centuries people have been making a lot of changes in their lives, and their relationship to society by increasingly understanding their rights. In every generation, people affect each other's lives. They change each other's thoughts and behaviour. If one is not satisfied with another's behaviour, he should blame himself because he made them behave like that. As Elizabeth said, which is true for all relationships in society, "All along I bin blamin' men for bein' men. But now I see that oftentimes it's the women that makes them that way" (72).