Wilkinson 1Comparison/Contrast of Cut and The Fourth of JulyIn the two essays Cut, by Bob Greene and The Fourth of July, by Audre Lorde they both discuss how disappointments as a child affected their lives. Greenes essay gives five examples about how five boys were cut from a sports team and how they used that disappointment to become successful as adults. Lordes essay differed in that it told one story of how her and her family were on their vacation in Washington D. C. and they were not served at a restaurant because they were black.
Both authors discuss feelings of being left out, being discriminated against, and how disappointments affected their lives. However, there are more differences than similarities in the essays. I can relate more to Greenes essay because I am an athlete; however, I have never been in position of worrying about being cut. Greene and Lorde were similar in that they both faced a form of discrimination on their childhood that helped better them in the future. In Cut the boys all went to try out for a high school sports team and all of them were cut from the teams.
For the time in my life, I was told wasnt good enough (Greene 56). These boys were discriminated against for not having the ability or talent to be good enough to play on the team. On of the people in the essay, Bob Graham stated, I know for a fact that it altered my perception of myself. My view of myself was knocked down; my self was lowered (Greene 57).
No one should ever be put into a situation where they face being told they are not good enough. In the other essay, The Fourth of July, a different type of discrimination was discussed, racism. Lordes family, which is African American, was faced with discrimination on a vacation to Washington D. C.
They took the trip because Wilkinson 2Lordes sister Phyllis could not go on her senior class to Washington. The nuns had given her back her deposit in private, explaining to her that the class, all of whom were white, except Phyllis, would be staying in a hotel where Phyllis would not be happy, Daddy explained to her, also in private, that they did not rent rooms to Negroes (Lorde 202). While in Washington Lorde and her family went out for ice cream to a Breyers ice cream shop. They sat down and a waitress, who was white, walked over and said, I said I kin give you to take out, but you cant eat here (Lorde 204). This shows how people are discriminated because of skin color.
Both Greene and Lorde seem to feel that people will always need to have a sense of belonging. In Cut all the men involved wanted to be on a sports team during their teens. Athletics meant everything to boys that age; if you were on the team, even as a substitute, it put you in a desirable group. If you werent on the team, you might as well be dead (Greene 56).
Greene shows us the need for belonging to a team. When Maurice McGrath was cut from the baseball team at fourteen he said, If I have to, Ill sit on the bench, but Ill be part of the team (Greene 58). In The Fourth of July, the need of belonging to a society is displayed. Lorde stated, This wasnt right or fair! Hadnt I written poems about Bataan and freedom and democracy for all? (Lorde 204) Lordes family was told that couldnt eat in an ice cream shop because of their color in the one place that has stood for freedom and equality for the last two hundred and twenty-five years, our nations capitol.
Lordes family was basically treated like they were foreigners because of their color. Wilkinson 3Both authors agree that positive things came out of the traumatic events in his/her childhood. Cut explains how the boys were positively change by being cut. Greene states, I dont know what went on in my head following the day when I was cut. I dont know if all of that came
