A comparative eassay between ‘Blood brothers’ and’

Berry’

Both stories ‘Blood Brother’s’ written by John Wickham and ‘Berry’

written by Laughston Hughes both explore an imbalance in power
relations. In Hughes ‘Berry’ the general themes include racism where as
in Wickham’s ‘Blood Brother’s’ the central theme seems to be hate.
In Wickham’s ‘Blood brothers’ there is seemingly an imbalance of
power between the two brothers Paul and Benjy ,not rooted in reality
but a figment of Paul’s imagination. The line ‘for treating him with his
air of studied disdain, as if he were a little girl who had to be helped
over fences’’ this alone may suggests that Paul felt jealously towards
Benjy for being able to do simple tasks with ease. ’’His brother’s own
lack of fear, his recklessness and his arrant devil-may care swagger was,
to him, an unspoken insinuation of his own cowardice, ’This further
shows that Paul felt jealousy of his brother which developed into deep
rooted issues about his own capabilities’ The relationship between the
two brothers is estranged but not from lack of efforts from Benjy

In Hughes ‘Berry’ there is an imbalance of power between Berry and his

co-workers who saw him as less than due to the color of his skin.
Milberry sought employment at Dr.Renfield Summer home for Crippled
Children but was first met with hesitancy. The line ‘’I sent a wire to the
high class agency in the city for somebody right away four by four
o’clock and they sent us a Negro!’’ implies that he wasn’t the preferred
choice just because of his skin color. The line ‘’Well pay the darkie
eight’’ followed shortly after, further shows that in their eyes, he
doesn’t deserve the same pay as the former white employee. Milberry
was often ask to complete or assist with jobs completely above his pay
grade for which he didn’t object to because in his words ‘’He needed
work and food.’’

In Wickham’s ‘Blood Brother’s’ there was a specific moment that

shaped the unrequited rivalry between the two brother’s Benjy and
Paul. Benjy and Paul was on a walk with their father after dinner one
night, where Paul was visibly shaken by the casuarina tree. The line
’’The whole picture was faintly lit by the spectral light of the moon
slanting through the trees, and he had been afraid.’’ Illustrates this.
Paul felt that this was another one of Benjy’s attempt to prove his
superiority, the line ‘’Only Benjy unaware, and unafraid, hopped and
danced along the road, exploiting his newly discovered whistle and
flaunting his own complete lack of fear.’’ shows us the glimpse into
Paul’s thought process at the time. It was understandable that he felt
anger towards his brother, because he could do things he could not.
The line ‘’Benjy and he played together, his self-contempt and distaste
for his own children –heartedness implicit in his slavish, albeit unwilling,
hero worship of his twin brother.’’ Shows that Paul was battling with an
internal battle between wanting his brother’s acceptance and his strong
dislike for his brother for things out of his control.

In Hughes ‘Berry’ there was an visible difference between the way

Berry was treated in contrast to the white employees. He was
overworked and often given tasks that was not his responsibility but
the employees and employer alike abused their power just because he
was black. The line ‘’ Milberry knew they took him for a work horse-a
fool and a nigger. Still he did everything and didn’t look mad’’ suggests
that berry was aware that they were using him but he didn’t want to
give into stereotypes about his race at the time. Berry became fond of
the children at the home one would argue that they got along because
they were in society eyes seen as rejects. Although Berry was
uneducated he was in tune with his surroundings the line ‘’ What really
worried Milberry at this place was that he seemed to sense that
something phony about the whole house except the little crippled kids
there like himself because they couldn’t help it.’’ shows this
Berry was often tasked with helping out with the crippled children but
an incident occurred due to the nurses negligence and it was obvious
who would have been blamed. A child called out to berry to help him
out of his wheel chair but due his excitement he propelled forward
causing him to fall. Most blame if not all was placed on Berry, the line ‘’
You careless black rascal. ’’ Shows how quick they were to outright
degrade and insult Berry when he became an inconvenience even
though he wasn’t at fault.
The speakers in Wickham’s ‘Blood Brother’s and Hughes ‘Berry’
portray the experiences through the use of symbolism. In Wickham’s
‘Blood Brother’s the casuarina is seemingly symbolic of Paul, who on
the outside appears shy and timid but was experiencing extreme hate
for his brother. In the beginning of the story Paul was painting under
the casuarina, he even thought to himself that ‘’ casuarina’s could be so
tall and slender’’ in contrast to the night where they are frightening
ghost like shapes. Where as in Berry the symbolism is the wheel chair
snapping which may have represented Berry’s life failing apart.