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Compare and Contrast

 

            Ted Lavender from The Things They Carried and Ralph Ellison from Battle Royal have many similarities, but few differences. They are both young men in situations that they do not specifically want to be in. Both young men have a future to look to, but they get put in places that jeopardize their future.
             For Ted Lavender he did not sign up for the army, but was drafted in. He is faithful to his country, but was forced to go fight for it. Ralph Ellison went to the gentlemens" club, but the white men forced him to be in the boxing match. Ralph Ellison did not put up a fight with the white men when they told him he had to box. .
             Ted Lavender and Ralph Ellison both have confidence, because they both do what they are told without fear. Ted Lavender did not know that he was going to get shot, and Ralph Ellison did not know that he was going to have to be in a boxing match. Yet, they both had self-respect and did what they were told.
             Both have courage to go into the situations that they went into. For Ted Lavender his life was going to be on the line. For Ralph Ellison he could have gotten permanent damage done. If he was not careful he could have ended up with head injuries and ruined his great writing abilities. Ted Lavender put his life on the line out of respect, and Ralph Ellison put his great writing abilities on the line for respect to the white man. .
             Ralph Ellison went to the gentlemens" club to deliver a speech, instead he had to be in a boxing match. "A glove smacked against my head. I pivoted, striking out stiffly as someone went past, and felt the jar ripple along the length of my arm to my shoulder. Then it seemed as though all nine of the boys had turned upon me at once" (Ralph Ellison 452). If all nine of the boys had turned on Ralph Ellison then he would have serious damage done to him. .
             Ted Lavender was in a position of great danger. "Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April" (Tim O"Brien 601).


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