Compare Contrast Essay
"The Town Dump", by William Stegner, and "Dumpster Diving",
by Lars Eighner, are both
essays dealing with town dumpsters. They are both similar in the sense that
they both have positive feelings
about the dumpsters, but "Dumpster Diving" deals more with how the
dumpsters help him live, while
"Town Dump" tells how the dumpster constitutes a large part of the
town's history.
In "Dumpster Diving", Eighner tells his story of living off of
the food that he finds in the
dumpsters of his city. His discussion of the many types of good food thrown
away leaves people wondering
if they waste too much food, or good things in general. The essay illustrates
the wasteful nature of most
people, and teaches a lesson in materialism.
Through most of the essay, Eighner writes in a technical fashion, describing
in great detail on the
various techniques that he used. He probably does not hope that the reader
will follow his example, but
instead uses the detail to prove that the situation exists in real life, and
not just some story made up by the
writer. That detail makes the story that much more believable, and therefore
makes it impact the reader
harder.
Behind the more obvious explanations of the art of dumpster diving, another
theme resides. It
deals with the idea that stories can be told by the things found in the dumpster.
"I once found a small paper
bag containing some unused condoms...torn pictures of a young man. Clearly
she was through with him."
In "Town Dump", Stegner reminisces about days past spent playing
in the town dumpster. When
he was a child, ha would play in the dump, and sometimes find little things
to keep. His involvement with
the dumps is not about necessity or survival, but about enjoyment. It is not
about the people that throw the
things away, but about the items found inside the dumpster.
Stegner uses a much more relaxed tone instead of the more technical tone
Eighner uses. This is
because he is remembering something pleasant, and he wants the reader to feel
his sensations. While
Eighner's tone is more useful for his own essay, the tone in "Town Dump"
gives it a more nostalgic
feeling, and also immerses the reader.
"Town Dump", like "Dumpster Diving" also has the theme
of finding stories of people by the
items in the dump. Stegner's best examples of this are the volumes of Shakespeare
that he found in the
dump. His father had bought the volumes before he was born, and by the time
he found it in the dump, he
found stains and burns that told the story of its passing through life.
Stegner and Eighner both wrote essays about town dumps. These essays had
very different tone,
and purpose, but they also had the same theme. They took two very different
paths to show the reader their
ideas, but in the end, they both reached the same destination.
JP 11-18-01
