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Hope Hillier
Ms. Parsons- Gill
English 2201
October 14th 2014
Compare/Contrast Essay Often conflict between parents and their children are used within young adult fiction stories in order to develop the plot in the specific way. Conflict between parents and their children is an everyday struggle that all families must face, it often leads to a life lesson in which both, the parents and children learn something new. Within the short stories “Mothership Down” by Marty Chan and “Baby Love” by Kathy Stinson this is precisely what has happened. In both pieces the conflict within the family (main character and parent) has resulted in a very negative way, as where the main character realizes his\her own mistakes and tries to own up to and resolve the situation and what it has become. In “Baby Love” by Kathy Stinson the main character happens to have a second chance to clean up the mess that she has created, unlike the main character in the story “Mothership Down” by Marty Chan. The main character in this text loses his chance to patch things up with his father, and he will never get the chance to. A similarity between “Baby Love” by Kathy Stinson and “Mothership Down” by Marty Chan is both characters have trouble communicating with their parents, this is why the plot developed the way it did and where the main conflict started. In the text it says “And she wished her mom was there. She should have said yes when her mom called earlier and offered to come home.” The narrator said this when Chelsea (the main character) realized that she needed the help that her mother persistently offered, but Chelsea was dead set against needing the help of her mother. In Chelsea’s mind her mother wasn’t trying to help, she was trying to take over the role of Abigail’s (Chelsea’s baby) mother. A similar event happens in the story “Mothership Down” by Marty Chan. It has been 3 long years since the main character in this text has spoken to his father all over a silly little miscommunication. The main character decides to call home and check in on his family specifically his father, this is when he learns the news of his father’s terminal cancer. In the text it says “I wanted to tell him I was sorry, but I decided to leave it for another time.” This turns out to be a fatal decision. Both “Baby Love” by Kathy Stinson and “ Mothership Down” by Marty Chan the main characters both unknowingly make bad decisions by holding off on doing something that turns out to change the plot drastically. Another similarity between “Baby Love” by Kathy Stinson and “Mothership Down” by Marty Chan and how the conflict between parent and child develops the plot is both of the texts end in regretting something. In “Baby Love” by Kathy Stinson Chelsea wanted to care for her baby on her own, when she realized that she could care for her baby all alone she experience a mental break down and screamed at her baby. Chelsea regrets not accepted the help that was offered to her by her mother. Evidence from the text that was found is “But a mom was supposed to know what to do when her baby cried. And she didn’t.” Chelsea feels as though she failed as a mother and she could have seriously injured her own baby. Maybe if she would have just accepted her mother’s help she wouldn’t have had Hillier 2

the break down that she did. She never would have yelled at her baby or experience the hatred towards herself and the baby as she did. Chelsea regretted the feelings that her baby made her feel if only she would have accepted the help that her mother offered to provide. Meanwhile in the story “Mothership Down” by Marty Chan the main character regretted not apologising to his father while his father was still alive and while the main character had the chance. In the text it states “dad died on a Thursday morning. I never got the chance to tell him.” Also it says “I realized that one person can make a difference if that person chooses to do nothing