Hi folks – Higher and Ordinary can use the same notes below – the higher level people only have to answer on two texts in the mocks even though the question will say three texts. Best of luck – the parts in bold are the main points or the comparisons – say how the texts are the same or different as I do below in part B) . You write about ‘The Road’ in part a) and then you write about’I’m not scared’ in part b) and compare it with ‘The Road’.
QUESTION – ORDINARY LEVEL
THEME
a) Name a theme that was explored in a text you studied for your comparative course and show how it was important in the lives of the characters from the text.
b) Compare the way in which the same theme was important in the lives of the characters from another text on your comparative course.
HIGHER LEVEL
THEME
a) Compare the treatment of a theme in two ( only one for the mocks) text you have studied.
b) Discuss the treatment of the same theme in a third ( second) text in the light of your answer to part a) above.
Introduction
The two texts I have studied as part of my comparative course are “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy and “I’m not scared” by Gabriele Salvatores. I will refer to “The Road” as (TR) and “I’m not scared” as (INS) throughout my essay. The theme I am going to discuss is the theme of poverty and crises. I am going to explore how the lives of the characters in both these texts are deeply affected by the world of poverty and crises that they find themselves living in. It dominates their choices and decisions and tests the strength of their morals. They lead tough and often miserable lives and struggle to survive. They are often under pressure and the poverty of their lives dominates their thinking. We also see how loving relationships are important and can help people to keep going and inspire them to believe a better world is possible. Loving relationships can inspire people not to give in and give up and become selfish and cruel. I am going to explore these points when I discuss the theme of poverty and crises in this essay.
(TR) is set in a world in a very poor world where everyone is on the verge of starvation. The man and the boy are one of the few people left alive and they have to constantly worry about food as nothing grows anymore and all animals are extinct. There has been a terrible disaster and most people have died from starvation and corpses and the bones of dead creatures are everywhere. They spend every day scavenging for anything that has not been eaten. Sometimes they go days without food and the boy asks often if they are going to die. The man notices that his son looks like a death camp victim he is so thin. They wear rags and have to survive the freezing cold nights without any of the comforts of civilisation. The poverty completely dominates their thinking and choices and makes them long for escape from such a tough life. They are often desperate and are always worried and stressed. They travel south in the hope of finding a warmer climate where there is more life and less hardship. This world offers few opportunities to be happy and they are always under pressure to survive.
The world of (TR) is also a dangerous world of violence where might is right and life is cheap. There is no justice and you have to be prepared to defend yourself to survive. The strong bully and kill the weak and people and the man and boy are often afraid and their lives are under threat. They are suspicious, fearful and slow to trust others. The reason for this is because the world ran out of food and in desperation most people became cannibals. We are told that after food ran out that the world was full of people who would eat your children in front of you. The man and boy stumble upon a camp with an infant roasting on a spit and a house where people are kept alive to be eaten. This world is very brutal, cruel, dangerous and violent and there is no justice. They call the people who choose to eat people to survive “the bad guys”. The man and the boy have to be suspicious of everyone and be careful to avoid others as much as possible and there is little trust in a world of murderous thugs. They have to be cautious and careful about whom they meet. The man carries a gun with him always. He has to be courageous and be prepared to fight to defend himself and he does so when he kills the road agent.
(TR) shows us that in a time of crises and desperation that people can become hopeless, selfish, cruel and cynical. In (TR) the cannibals think only about themselves. The pressure of poverty and hunger means they give up their morals and think only of themselves. The boy’s mother gave up hope and committed suicide and Ely says he would not have given any food to the boy even though the boy gave food to him. In a time of crises and desperation many become hopeless or hard hearted, selfish and cruel.
In (TR) we also see that love and loving relationships can give people hope and the strength to keep going through difficult times. The man and boy remind each other that they have to “carry the fire” of hope and goodness in a cruel and hopeless world. The man won’t let the boy give up hope and tells him “good guys don’t quit” and “you won’t give up I won’t let you.” In (TR) the man and the boy remind each other that they must carry the fire of hope and goodness with them. The deep love they feel for each other is a source of light in a dark and dangerous world. The boy repeatedly asks the man if they are still the good guys and they refuse to eat people or dogs and the boy pushes the man to help Ely a little by sparing some food and begs the man not to kill the thief. The times of crises, that they live through, tests their moral courage as well as their will to survive. Their loving relationship helps them not to give up hope or give in to the heartless world by becoming heartless themselves. It shows us how love keeps people going through tough and hard times.
In the end the man dies after he has been shot by an arrow and the boy is found by a family of “good guys”. He continues to carry the fire on his journey through life even though his father has died. The boy prays to his father who remains alive in his heart and memories so the novel celebrates the ability of love to survive and help live on through times of crises. The boy still has to live through the dangerous and tough world but can do so with courage and hope and goodness in his heart. So the novel tells us that in testing times love can help people to keep going and not give in to the darkness around them.
B)
In (INS ) there are also characters who live in a very poor world and struggle to cope. It follows the story of Michelle, his family and the small community of Acqua Traverse in the South of Italy in the 1970s in southern Italy. This was a time of poverty and deprivation and many people in the South turned to crime to try to lift themselves out of the grinding poverty that they lived in. Just as in (TR) we see characters struggling in a world of poverty. They live in a small, remote village. The buildings are poor and run down and shabby. The cars are old and ramshackle. There is only one shop and the villagers have no money to buy luxuries. The children have only old or broken toys which reminded me of the boy in (TR). We can see how poor they are by the way they have to keep repairing Michelle’s sisters glasses with tape because they cannot afford to fix them properly. When the travelling shoe shop comes to the village they haggle over the prices as they can afford very little. They have very basic hopes such as going to the seaside, a trip to a restaurant would be a big treat for them. There is very little work and their father Pino is not home often as he has to go on the road to find some work. They can waste no food as we see when Maria’s unfinished dinner is carefully put away for late. One evening there is nothing in the fridge to eat except for two tomatoes. ( However – but – not as poor – there is some food – civilisation has not collapsed – there is hope that things might get better in the future – in (TR) things can only get worse it seems )
( INS) shows us another dangerous world where might is right, people use violence as a way to get what they want and life is cheap. Just as in (INS) is a world is dominated by people who use force and violence. We can see this when the cruel Skull bullies the other children and slaps Barbara in the face when she tries to stand up to him. Felice is also cruel and threatens to cut off both Fillipo’s ears to force his parents to pay the ransom for the kidnapped boy. We can see it is important to be strong in this world by the way Pino is always challenging Michelle to arm wrestling contests. We also see how people use violence to dominate groups and get what they want. Sergio threatens Felice with a gun when they argue over what to do with Fillipo. They also used violence to kidnap Fillipo and when they try to murder him at the end of the film. This is another unjust and corrupt world where the strong dominate the weak. In both texts we see societies that are breaking down into chaos and violence under the pressure of poverty and crises. People are afraid of Sergio and are careful what they say and do around him. The children are also afraid of Skull and Michelle hides from Felice when he sees him. Felice punches Michelle in the face when he finds him down the hole. So this is another text where the strong dominate the weaker through violence and people are wary and afraid. However in (INS) there is a police force and the law is trying to find Fillipo and punish the people who committed the terrible crime of kidnapping him and treating him so cruelly. ( NOT AS MUCH VIOLENCE – MOST PEOPLE IN (TR) ARE KILLERS AND CANNIBALS – IN ( INS) CAN TRUST SOME PEOPLE – THE WORLD IS NOT AS DANGEROUS – THERE IS HOPE THAT THE PEOPLE LIKE SERGIO CAN BE BEATEN )
Just as in (TR) we are reminded in (IMS) that people out of desperation can do terrible things and commit desperate acts to survive a time of crises and poverty or to improve their position in life. The entire village gets drawn into the dreadful crime of kidnapping and holding for ransom the innocent Fillipo Carducci who is a young innocent son of a wealthy Milan family. He is chained up in a dark and cold hole and given only a ragged blanket for warmth. He is poorly fed and chained to the ground until his ankle becomes bloody and raw. Even though Pino is a decent, kind man and a good father he goes along with this crime in the hope of lifting his family out of poverty. Just as in the (TR) we see a father driven to do immoral things to provide for and support his family. In both texts times of poverty and suffering test peoples’ moral strength and lead characters to make choices they would not normally make. We see in both texts how in a time of crises people can become selfish, cruel and cynical. They can be driven to think only about themselves and their loved ones.
We again see how positive and loving relationships help people to keep going through tough times and also inspire characters to rise above the violence and selfishness that exists in the world around them. The Armitrano family supports and encourages one another. The children love their father and he adores them. This reminds me of how the man and the boy in ( TR) keep the fire of hope and joy alive for one another in a dark, cold and cruel world. The relationship between Michelle and Fillipo also shows us how friendship can inspire great courage in people and just as in (TR) it shows us that loving relationships can stop people from becoming heartless even in heartless worlds. Michelle risks his own life and goes against his father’s orders in order to save the life of Fillipo. It inspires him to do the right thing even in dark and dangerous times and this reminds me of how the boy inspires the man to do the right thing even in dark times. ive within them by supporting that We again see the power of love to keep people going and inspire them through harsh times.
In both texts we can see that in times of struggle and hardship and danger that love can inspire people to carry on, to hope and to believe a better world is possible even in dark and dangerous and desperate times.
Your own conclusion
Worlds – poverty – violence – desperation – struggle to survive – dominates thinking – under pressure – some make immoral choices – cruel, selfish and think only of themselves – but love can inspire people to rise above – be better people and hope for a better world and make better choices