Comparison

            
             Looking deep into the two stories that were read, it can be found that they are similar in some ways. Looking at the stories as how they are, it will be found that they are far from being comparable. One story is based on a boy and his first day of work and the other is based on a woman that does not appreciate being called by the wrong name. The story "My name is Margaret" is about a girl that is upset when she is called by the wrong name. The story "Digging" is about a young boy who has just started his first job and the struggles of the job. These stories represent how life will always have its struggles that we have to overcome through time. .
             These two stories both take place in the south during the mid-century. In "Digging" the boy respects his father and does not want his father to think any less of him. He is even embarrassed to tell his father that he threw up at work. He does not want for his father to think that he can't handle being a man. He expresses this when they are in the car, "I let my father believe I was brave, because I was afraid to tell him that I was afraid to tell the foreman."(Dubus 59) In "My name is Margaret" the girl respects her family and the name that they gave her. That is why she gets so upset when the one lady calls her Mary. At one point she says, "It was a tossup whether I would laugh or cry, letting some white woman rename me for her convenience."(Angelou 34) .
             In both stories, there is a mix of races that are forced to be with one another. The boy in "Digging" is forced to work with black men. There is no problem between them at all. They actually seem to be very friendly with the boy and treat him as one of the guys. There is no race issue or anything. The boy respects the men for their hard work and they respect him because they know how hard the work actually is. "My two comrades said, see you tomorrow."(Dubus 60) In "My name is Margaret" the black girl is forced to work for upper-class white women.