Tom's Wisdom example essay topic

Two short stories that have been effectively crafted to leave the writer with a strong impression of the main character are, 'The Wedding Gift" by Thomas Raddal and "Piece of steak" by Jack London. Both Stories evolve around entirely different circumstance but show the journeys of the main character. "A Piece of Steak" is the story of a prize fighter called Tom King who has gained wisdom but has lost his youth. His body was now battered and bruised, his knuckles were swollen and his arteries no longer did the work. Tom is matched with a young boxer called Sandal, "Tom was the grizzled old chopping block that guarded the highway to fame and fortune". If Sandal managed to beat Tom he would go on to bigger and better things, if Tom won, there would be food on his table.

Tom puts up a good fight, carefully calculating every move to make the most of his diminishing strenght. Despite Tom's wisdom, Sandal is just to fit and his youthful exuberance helps him overcome Tom. Although Tom is deeply saddened he holds no grudges. He had done the same to Stows her Bill twenty years ago and Bill had cried afterwards like a baby.

Fighting was business to him and there was one winner and one looser. He was more unnerved about his wife waiting for him at his home that loosing. From the end we get the impression that Tom is a man who accepts life for what it is and this is shown by his battle with Sandals youthful exhuberence. In The Wedding Gift, the main character Kezia is also faced with a troublesome task with the same unlikelihood of beating it. Kezia is forced to marry a man who nearly twice her age who lives in a remote fishing town some distance away. She has to travel to the town on a horse in the snow accompanied by the towns preacher.

To her employers she is a "colourless little creature, but quiet and well-mannered and pious", . Kezia may put on this shara de but at other times she doesn't do everything a lady should. When out of view of the preacher she rode the horse the way only a man was a lowed to and did the unaccepted act of bundling with the preacher to keep them warm. At the end of the story we see that Kezia is not as meek as once thought and has been quite cunning. Instead of bringing out the tinderbox to start a fire, she made them bundle together in the skins a bonded in the hut. This act showed the preacher sort of what he was missing out on.

Kezia then persuades him to marry her saying "Twouldn't matter if the young woman was your wife". We see from Kezia actions that she is not someone who accepts life and does someone through dec iet to get what she wants. Fom these two stories we see that one character accepts lifes harsh realities and another character who won't accept he misfortunes and who does something about it. A Piece of Steak by Jack London The Wedding Gift Thomas Raddal.