Comparing Raymond's Run And The Good Deed

The two stories “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara and “The Good Deed” by Marion Dane Bauer may seem different. “Raymond’s Run” is about “a little girl with skinny arms and a squeaky voice” balancing running and her mentally impaired brother, Raymond. “The Good Deed” is about a girl scout helping out a blind lady. But, deep in their cores, the two stories share the theme of opening up and letting others into your life. In “Raymond’s Run”, Squeaky is very offensive. She “[doesn’t] feature a whole lot of chit-chat, [she’d] much prefer to just knock you down right from the jump and save everybody a lotta precious time.”. She is too offensive to make friends, as shown in a scene where she meets some other girls in her class. She immediately

However, their other details don’t exactly align as well as the message. For example, the surface of the stories are very different. The obvious storylines of the two stories differ greatly from each other. Additionally, the characters have their “life changing experience”s in different ways. In “Raymond’s Run”, Squeaky learns to accept Gretchen when she finishes the race at the end of the story. At this point in the story, she and Gretchen share “this big smile of respect between [them]”. Squeaky’s barriers have been broken by this new girl. Differently, in “The Good Deed”, Heather's alteration in behaviour happens at the end. After Heather had (technically) broken in, Risa comes back home to tell her real story, not the augmented one that Heather had crafted. Both of these girls, albeit differently, learn to break down their own mental barriers. To conclude, “The Good Deed” by Marion Dane Bauer and “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara are very similar stories. They are both about young girls who make new friends. They both teach the reader to open up and let others into your life. And they are both well written, great stories. They are, however, very different. They have very different storylines and slightly different lessons. DIfferent lessons that can teach people to let down their defences and let others into their