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Comparing Identity Issues in Short Stories

            The books Borders by Thomas King and The Boat by Alistair MacLeod make use of different characters that are in different situations to bring about distinct identity issues. Both essay writer stories have been well developed and outline clear identity themes. This paper will compare both stories making quality argument concerning the identity themes.

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Boarders’ is set in a plot where a mother and her son embark on a road trip where their identity cost them refusal to cross the border to US and also refusal being barred to go back to Canada. The book’s main identity issue is the nationality of the characters as they refuse to identify as either American or Canadian and deciding to stick to identifying as Blackfoot (King, 2021). However, besides being discriminated on the basis of their nationality, the limbo of being stuck between the countries gives them a chance to find power in their identity.

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On the other hand, ‘The Boat’ tells a story of a family who have a different perspective regarding education. The mother to the narrator values the ‘boat’ which is consistently mentioned in the text and looks down upon the act of reading books and searching for education whereas the father is described as someone who valued reading and would spend time reading (Macleod, 1968). ‘Borders’ tells the story of an identity issue regarding race and nationality while the other short story, ‘The Boat’ addresses different perspectives that people perceive education, with some identifying as people who value education while others identify as those who value what can be regarded as traditional ways of life while disregarding education. ‘The Boat’ argues that not all parents have same perspective on education while ‘Borders’ argues that the world is not a fair place for all races as one can be discriminated based on their race and nationality.

References

King, T. (2021). Borders. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Macleod, A. (1968). The Boat (1st ed.).

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