A Brief Analysis on the Comparison of Two Works

Abstract：This paper is mainly about the analysis on the comparison of two works， To Live and A Job of the Plains. As far as I am concerned， these two works are worthy of comparing. Firstly， both of them are similar with The Book of Job in the Old Testament. Secondly， the two stories have some similarities， including the sufferings of characters， main characters； and difference， for example， these two works are written by different people， they are from different countries and the writing background also is different.

Key words：To Live； A Job of the Plains； comparison； The Book of Job

1. Introduction

The two works have same background， that is， The Book of Job in Bible. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job， and that man was blameless and upright， one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7，000 sheep， 3，000 camels， 500 yoke of oxen， and 500 female donkeys， and very many servants， so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

Then one day Satan took everything he had away with the permission of Lord. However， Job said， “Naked I came from my mother's womb， and naked shall I return. The Lord gave， and the Lord has taken away； blessed be the name of the Lord.” He still blessed God as usual. Finally， God returns Jobs health， providing him with twice as much property as before， new children， and an extremely long life.

2. Comparison

After the analysis， the similarities and differences of these two works become more apparent. Thus， a better understanding of two stories will come true.

（1） The similarities of two stories

These two stories have many things in common， such as the characteristics of main character， the sufferings in life， and so on. Based on The Book of Job， we find that the comparison has values. Both of two stories have something to do with it.

①The main character

The main characters are Fugui in To Live and Dobbs in A Job of the Plains. Two of them have similarities in many places. Firstly， they both have tough personalities and have power to endure various sufferings in life. Both of them are married males and they afford a family on their shoulders. They are not live for their own， they have responsibilities to their wife and children. They understand the meaning of life sooner or later.

②The sufferings

Fugui lives rich life at beginning and becomes poor all of a sudden because of gambling， and gradually loses all his family members in the end. However， Dobbs has nothing at the beginning， he suffers a lot and regards all his sufferings as Gods test. Then all of a sudden， he becomes rich. Both of them suffer a lot in life， taste various pains and never give up. Losing family members and health， suffering others laughing and mentally pains. Both of them experiences dramatically upheaval in life.

（2）The differences of two stories

The former part of To Live is closer to The Book of Job， Fugui， just as Job， at the very beginning， they are like the greatest person in the world， and they own lots of wealth. While in A Job of the Plains， Dobbs at the beginning suffers a lot， but get wealthy in his later life. Dobbs ruins in wealth not in poor. The former part of To Live is similar to The Book of Job while the later part of A Job of the Plains is similar to it. This determines the different frame of two stories.

①The different theme

To Live is written by Chinese writer to reflect the social reality of China at the twentieth century through the description of Fugui and his family. The main theme is seeking the meaning of life through the hardships suffered in life. To live is for the sake of live itself not anything else. At the back of reflecting social reality and exposing social evils， the author wants us to see the power of life and faith. However， A Job of the Plains is written by American writer William Humphrey to reflect the social reality of America through the description of Dobbs and his family. Here， the author shows us a different picture. The main theme of it is that being poor isnt the most dangerous and terrible thing in the world， being rich is. Because of money， everything changes. Dobbs cant return to his old life again.

②The different writing background

The background of To Live is a series of problems confronted by New China in 1950s and 1960s， including the battles inside China after the WWII， the Three Years Natural Disaster， and the Great Cultural Revolution. People at that time in China lived a hard life， the Fugui and his family is a good example. However， the background of A Job of the Plains is the Great Depression of 1929-40 and the Dust Bowl storms of the early 1930s. The influences of Great Depression is very serious. Under the lead of Franklin D. Roosevelt， the government have to pay farmers to withhold land from production and buy pigs from them which were then shot and buried， both designed to raise the price of farm commodities through scarcity.

3.Conclusion

These three works have similarities at one point or another， just like that they are putting together by a string and waiting responsible readers to find them. They are independent from each other originally until the connection between them are found. Different time， different countries， different writers， while similar story， this phenomenon shows us history is similar from generation to generation in the world， and repetition is always existed.

【References】

[1] Carol A. Newsom. The Book of Job： A Contest of Moral Imaginations. Oxford University Press， 2003. Print.

[2] Humphrey， William. The Collected Stories of William Humphrey. Open Road Media， 2015. Print.

[3] Scheindlin， Raymond. The Book of Job. W. W. Norton & Company， 1999. Print.

[4] 余 華. 活著[M]. 北京： 作家出版社， 2012.8.

[5] 余 華. 活著·中文版自序[M]. 上海文藝出版社， 2004，2.

【作者簡介】

賀佳梅（1993—），女，漢族，河南省陜縣人，西安外國語大學英文學院2014級英語語言文學專業碩士研究生。主要研究方向：英國文學。