Jack Nickel
English 100
May 07, 2007
Mr. Reynolds

Final Essays


1. Compare the Misfit to Hulga/Joy.  How are their lives and opinions similar, and how are they different? Give examples.

	
	The Misfit and Hulga are actually quite similar on the psychological level.  They both seem to be outcasts, anomalies in society, people that only come around every once in awhile and cause enough trouble to those who know them to make up for it. 
	They both seem too think themselves superior to those around them.  Hulga thinks that because part of her leg is gone she can stomp around and make sure that everyone pays attention to her.  On the other hand the Misfit seems to think that he has the power to decide what punishment fits the crime, and to decide if those he encounters are allowed to live or die.  
	They both seem to have a general disregard for religion.  However the disregard seems to stem from different things.  Hulga’s refusal of the acknowledgement of a god seems to be a born of a form of rebelling against her mother and life.  The Misfit on the other hand seems to have studied religion and found it lacking.
	An even more obvious example of their differences is their outward appearance.  The Misfit is a male with two legs while Hulga is a female with one and a half.  Also their notoriety is severely different.  The Misfit has been in the newspaper and certain people may have heard of him while Hulga has stayed close to home all her life.  Another difference is that while the Misfit takes advantage of the grandmother and her family, Hulga is actually taken advantage of.      
	
2. Does someone you know (or know of) remind you of one of the characters in these two stories? Describe why you see a similarity between the two people and give examples.

	A person who instantly comes to mind when pondering Hulga is my cousin Helga.  As is instantly obvious they have a similarity in their name.  However my cousin was born with her name and Hulga was originally called Joy. 
	The similarities between Helga and Hulga are surprising.   The personality between the two seems to be similar.  My cousin seems to be stuck up also.  My cousin however is a devout catholic.   My cousin also lives with her mom (although it would be worth noting that she is only 17).  Helga has all her limbs attached as of the moment.  Her father slaughters meat for Walmart and hunts on the side for fun so something of the sort is still possible.