One of the lessons we learn as children growing up, especially with siblings, is the necessity of compromise. Learning how to compromise enables us to tolerate someone we disagree with through negotiation. In most Western cultures, people have the belief that people will love and get along with everybody in their family. Siblings, such as my sister and I, fight for many reasons: We fight because we want our parent's attention, or maybe at certain times we are jealous of one another. Every brother or sister will obviously have a difference in their mind-set, judgment and morals. In the story The Rich Brother and the poem "Two Sisters of Persephone" we will look at this inevitable difference between the siblings involved.
In The Rich Brother the two brothers are named Donald and Pete. Pete the older, materialistic one, has a lot of money due to his success in real estate. He is described as "stout and hearty" (233) while Donald is described as "bony, grave and obsessed with the fate of his soul". When Pete tells Donald about his attempt at skydiving, Donald persistently asks how much it costs and Pete retorts "At least I"m trying something new At least I'm breaking the pattern"(233). Commonly in households one of the children will look to develop different abilities in order to attract more attention to themselves. Donald telling Pete his skydiving story could be a sign of this. Later in the story Pete volunteers to pick Donald up after discovering he is homeless. The first thing Pete yells is "Grow up Get a Mercedes". This reaffirms Pete's focus on material goods and makes it seem that he thinks he is better than Donald because he has a Mercedes and Donald has nothing. When Pete gives Donald money he impatiently waves the bills around, but when Donald buys Pete an orange soda he politely gives it to him and says "My treat". The soda spills and Pete says, "Wipe it up Quick!" This also shows Petes materialistic attitude and treats Donald as an inferior person.