Comparative Essay About "Little Bee" and "Girlfriend in a Coma"

Douglas Coupland's "Girlfriend in a Coma" published in 1998 is a narrative that explores the lives of a group of friends living in Vancouver. The author focuses on the life of one of the protagonists called Karen who falls into a coma on the night when the group had organized a house party. The author makes it appear that Karen had already expected the comma since she had sent a letter to Richard, her boyfriend that she wanted to have a thousand years of sleep. On the other hand, "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave is a 2008 novel about the life of two people, one a Nigerian seeking asylum and the other an editor of a British Magazine. It looks at the unplanned encounter of the two and their reunion many years after their first meeting. These two stories show the how individual characters struggle to free themselves from the society. Both "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Little Bee" express the struggles and consequences that members of any society have to overcome in their daily lives as they try to make their choices

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"Little Bee" has various incidences of characters trying to gain their sense of identity and avoid being just dictated by their society. From the onset, Little Bee escapes to England in the hope that it will help her to develop herself without the influence of their traumatic war she had experienced in Nigeria. In fact the author of the novel states that "To be well in your mind you have first to be free" (Cleave 147). In pursuing the realization of this statement, Little Bee tries to not only freedom from the society, but also her past, and herself. The author looks at the conflict between an individual and community as a battle of individuality. In fact, Little Bee shows the internal conflict of struggling to define own identity while the society also has its expectations from every person. The author shows the personal conflict through the character called Sarah. She clearly shows the underlying battles when she states "The summer my husband died-we all had identities we were loath to let go of. My son had his Batman costume, I still used my husband's surname, and Little Bee...still clung to her name she had taken in a time of terror" (Cleave 22). The author shows the conflict as being a product of various things in everyday life including the differences in culture, religion and through the inward struggles of each person. Nonetheless, the author presents the human nature that prevails even amidst such struggles by showing that ultimately people set aside their identity battles to help each other in their times of distress.

Douglas Coupland in "Girlfriend in a Coma" looks closely at how people concentrate so much on doing things as dictated by the society at the expense of their motivations. The writer conceives the way in which the society more influences people than the self as an aspect of human nature. Through the characters, the author emphasizes that individuals often make rational decisions with a primary consciousness of whether the society will disprove or approve of them instead of what they inwardly think is good for them. In essence, the author shows the inner struggles that people have to bear in trying to get the best for themselves even with the societal pressures. In "Girlfriend in a Coma," the author presents three types of external or societal forces that motivate people to act in a particular way as opposed to their individual choices. These forces include family demands and expectations, careers and love affairs.

Coupland in "Girlfriend in a Coma" uses typical examples to illustrate how people tend to give priority to the opinions of others while making a decision. Through the eyes of Lois, Coupland expresses this struggle. From the novel, it is seen that the reason that Karen gets into a comma is a result of the valuim that had been given to her by Lois. According to her, the mother often complained that she was not so beautiful thus she needs to take pills to become prettier. Therefore, her decisions were significantly influenced by such statements from a second party rather than herself. "...Most drugs, even vitamins, send me to the moon. But downers are okay. I take them to cool out. Mom gave me my bottle." (Coupland, 17). Nonetheless, when As Karen entered a coma, Lois who had given her the pills even stopped visiting her. Lois was guilty that she had caused the problem. Therefore, despite having been influenced by someone else to take pills for beauty, Karen was left all alone to suffer the consequences of relying on others to make choices at her own expense.

Conclusion

In conclusion, whereas "Little Bee" and "Girlfriend in a Coma" were set in different regions and authors by different people, they successfully show the individual-society conflict and how the opinions of others influence individual choices. In fact, the authors illustrate that even in circumstances where the outcome of a decision is not clear or may lead to adverse outcomes, people are still motivated to please others as opposed to doing what they think is right.

Works Cited

Cleave, Chris. Little Bee: A Novel. Simon and Schuster, 2009.

Coupland, Douglas. Girlfriend in a Coma. New York: Harper Perennial, 2008. Internet resource.