The characters Hester and Morgan are two characters telling different stories to their audiences. However, they share some similarities according to the stories of their experiences in life as narrated in the two texts, still stands the houseof Hester and the story about Morgan. The two characters, Hester and Morgan have gone through series of changes in their lives from when they were children to when they are fully grown up as stated in the two different texts. Change is inevitable and must be experienced byeveryone with no exception to Hester and Morgan(Ringwood and Gwen, 1939). It is therefore important that we understand how each of the two characters in the two different texts react to change because reaction may differ depending with the individuals perception and attitude.
In the play Still Stands the House, the character Hester claims to have sacrificed her marriage life to take care of her brother Bruce and father after their mother died when they were still too young to take care of themselves. Hester is living with her brother and his brother’s wife Ruth in the house their house in the Wild West. The character does not admit change in her life. She opts things should have remained the way they were when she was the one to do everything in the house for his brother. She finds it difficult to get along with her brother’s wife because she feels his bothers wife is taking her place and her fathers. She refuses to get married simply because she was taking care of her brother when she was supposed to get married. She has refused to move on.
Hester not only does she not like his brother’s wife Ruth, but also the baby. She tells Ruth that she cannot love the baby anymore because she loved her brother but her brother is not grateful. Things have changed and the character, Hester, needs to move on and let her brother be. Morgan similarly, does not want to change despite winning two awards. He wants to be like his mentors in the past (Wagner and Anton, 1982). He wants to waste talent just to go mentoring the young boys because he wants to live like his mentors and for the people he is mentoring to feel good about him the same way he felt for those who mentored him during his youth.
Based on the readings in the two texts, there is the theme of selfishness portrayed by one character and not the other. Hester has shown selfishness when she insists that the land should not be sold despite being unproductive and not fit for the stay of the young baby. What matters to her is the house that her father left her. She does not want Ruth to touch anything that belonged to her father, not even a picture of her late father. However, the character Morgan has portrayed his generosity in one way. He is willing to sacrifice his talent and the accompanied benefits simply to give back to the community. He wants to appreciate his mentors by continuing their work and mentoring the young people back in his community. This character traits portrayed by Morgan is different from Hester’s because as much as she can claim that he sacrificed for her brother, she is spoiling his life and that is the reason he sends his brother and his wife to their deaths in a blizzard not minding about their son.
Citations
Ringwood, Gwen Pharis. Still Stands the House: A Drama in One Act. Samuel French, Inc., 1939.
Wagner, Anton. “Geraldine Anthony. Gwen Pharis Ringwood.” Theatre Research in Canada/Recherchesthéâtrales au Canada 3.1 (1982).