The Character of the Curate and Marian in Old Mrs. Chundle by Thomas Ha

The Character of the Curate and Marian in 'Old Mrs Chundle' In Thomas Hardy's short story, 'Old Mrs Chundle', the Curate is a well-respected, well-mannered and considerate man. He is determined to spread the word of God to Mrs Chundle. Mrs Chundle is also a considerate woman. She does not regularly visit the church and lives alone in South Wales. At the beginning of the story, the Curate asks for some lunch from Mrs Chundle. At first Mrs Chundle did not hear the Curate, so he has to repeat what he asked earlier. The Curate is an open man; he is not ashamed of asking food from others and is willing to dine with an old woman. This shows that the Curate is a friendly man and he does not judge people. The Curate strikes up a friendly conversation, which eventually leads to Mrs Chundle lying about visiting the church once a week. Due to this, the Curate thinks he and Mrs Chundle have something in common as ho belongs in the same church, which Mrs Chundle lied about. He hopes to see Mrs Chundle again which shows that the curate has become quite friendly with her and also shows that he is a pleasant man. When the Curate is talking to his rector, he finds out about the lie Mrs Chundle told. His view of Mrs Chundle changes for a short while. He now thinks of her as a wicked woman. In Eudor Welty's short story, 'A Visit Of Charity', Marian is a typical 14-year-old teenager. She is a campfire girl trying to gain a few points by visiting old ladies in an 'Old Ladies Home'. At the beginning of the story, Marian, holding a potted plant, jumps off the bus, stops for a moment besides a prickly dark shrub and then proceeds towards the Old Ladies Home. She says to the nurse at the desk, 'I'm a Campfire girl I ... ...had not avoided her, Mrs Chundle would have had the joy of listening to God's words once more before she had died. Marian had not particularly learnt an important lesson. She is only a young adolescent. The only reason she had visited the old ladies was for a few points. When Marian came out of the Old Ladies Home, the first thing she did was take out her apple from under the bush and took a bite out of it. This shows that Marian was not affected in anyway from her experience with the old ladies. She had not gone to visit the old ladies out of her own choice but only for herself. The Curate had learnt the most from his experience as he showed the signs of confusion, guilt and had to ask for forgiveness from God. Marian had just taken a bite out of her apple as soon as she got out. She showed no signs of sympathy and compassion toward the old ladies.