In reading Joyce Carol Oates, “Hi Howya Doin”, 2007 and Zora Neale Hurston’s, “Spunk”, 1925, we have noticed similarities and differences between the two stories, which we have analyzed for further discussion. Both stories consist of life that is filled with uncertainty; good and evil are ill defined.In the story, “Hi Howya Doin”, by Joyce Carol Oates, she describes a husky male running along a path filled with a variety of different individuals from all walks of life who want only to be left alone, want no social interaction or discourse and prefer to contemplate in solitude with their miserable existence. In “Spunk”, the author paints a verbal picture of life during the early part of the 20th century, in a rural southern community, where social discourse, social contact and social interaction are extremely important for …show more content…
As we read we learn about characters and get to know them a little better throughout the story. Character development is a means by which the author draws the reader into the story. The characters physical details, his or her physical environment contribute to define the character and draw a mental image in the mind of the reader. Both short stories have muscular male main characters that draw attention to themselves either by their actions, deeds or skills. “Spunk”, is a “giant of a brown-skinned man…” (Hurston 317). Spunk is a dynamic character where he changes his persona due to the events near the end of the story. While Oates describes the unnamed male in “Hi Howya Doin” as “Good –looking husky guy six-foot-four in late twenties…”(Oates 214). It is interesting to see that Oates does not name her main character, nor does she relate any thoughts he might have had, all of which she does for her secondary