In all the history of books, there have been so many concepts, so many motifs, and so many definitions of the importance of theme. In The Gold Cadillac by Mildred D. Taylor, Nadia the Willful by Sue Alexander, and The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida, there was something that couldn’t be missed, which is comparison. The Gold Cadillac talks about a black family who bought a Gold Cadillac, and when they travel to one of the most racist states in America, get pulled over by the cops because there was ‘no way they owned an expensive car’ so the police immediately thought that they stole it. Nadia the Willful talks about a girl who’s older brother went missing. Her once calm and peaceful father changed, and became impatient. Nadia taught her father to remember him in his heart. The Bracelet talks about a Japanese family who had to leave to go to a concentration camp. Ruri, the main character, received a bracelet from her best friend. When Ruri lost that bracelet, she freaked out, but her mother said that it doesn’t take an object to remember someone.
There are many types of comparing and contrasting, one of them is the actions and behaviours. This means the difference and similarities of how the main characters act and what they do. In The Gold Cadillac, the first difference between actions are those of the Mother and the relatives. The mother clearly showed that she was not interested in the car, and she did not like it one bit. This is shown because of how she refused to admire the car and ride in it, but when it came to driving to one of the most racist states in America, she was okay with it. The relatives made much effort to admire the car but refused to drive with father to that state. The similarities presented in behaviour is that everyone supports father's decision, or at least, acknowledges it. In Nadia the Willful, the difference was those of Nadia’s and Mother’s actions about father’s rule of not being allowed to speak of the missing brother. While Nadia completely broke this rule, mother made an effort of respecting it, and even supporting it. Then there are the similarities. Nadia and mother are both showing that they know of this rule. Because even if Nadia does not like it, she shows that she knows about it.
Time can mean many things, in this case, it means past and present behaviour, action, thoughts, etc… The past and present shows how people evolve throughout the story. In The Gold Cadillac, the difference is Mother’s and Father’s opinion on the car. Before, mother hated the car, because they were saving up for a house. And so it is clear that father liked it, since he was the one who bought the car in the first place. But near the end of the story, mother decided that since the car was so important to her family, she accepted it. Father felt the same thing, so he sold the car for his family. In the end, both of them were willing to give up their happiness for their family. In Nadia the Willful, the change was based on personalities. Nadia used to be childish and arrogant, and her father used to be the calm, peaceful, and kind ruler. But towards the end, it was Nadia who was the wise one about remembering our loved ones and father was the childish one. But both of them loved and missed the brother very much. In The Bracelet, it was all about surroundings. Ruri’s house before was homely and cozy, nice and had everything she needed to live a decent life, because she also had her best friend. But her house now is nothing like that. The similarity is that she has to call both of them ‘home’.
Throughout the story, we begin to see how people feel about all the change and everything. That can be described through emotion. In The Golden Cadillac, Mother’s emotions were pain, acceptance, and love. Mother was disappointed since they were saving up for the house, but she accepted that her family loved the car, and she only felt that way out of love. Father and the girl’s emotions were joy, fear, and love. Father and Lois, the girl, were happy because the car was cool, but when it came to the police, they were scared that they would be arrested. In the end, they loved their family too much, so they gave up the car. In Nadia the Willful, everyone’s emotions were the same. They felt pain, despair, and love. They were so sad that the brother went missing because who knows when he will come back? Then, they felt despair because they realized that the brother was definitely not coming back since there was no sign of him whatsoever. Then, they decided to move on out of love since they knew they would always remember the brother. In The Bracelet, Ruri and her mother felt angry, sad, and love. They were angry that just because they were Japanese, they had to be treated like dirt since they were related to ‘the enemy’. Then they were sad because they had to leave their home. Then, they felt love for their friends and families.
Comparing and contrasting is something we do in our daily lives. These stories are just really great examples of it. These books teach us that we can remember whatever we want, if we really care about them, they will be stored in our hearts. Comparing and Contrast is used to show the similarities and differences in between characters, books, etc… It is a commonly used writing skill because of how useful it proves to be. This writing skill helps people notice how the characters develop with their similarities and differences. These three books shows that when we are comparing and contrasting, it is not just about people, it is also about places, events, actions, emotions, and time. While this is very common, this writing skill is also used to compliment the motif of the stories and the meanings behind them. Of course, this does not necessarily mean that it is the motif itself, but more like it helps people understand the motif by showing how different people, places, or emotions, represent the motion in different ways. This is why these three stories are so well-structured. I believe these stories should be read even many centuries from now.
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