Essay Example on Comparing Dahl & Wells: The Landlady & A Dream of Armageddon

The short stories of Dahl and Wells, The Landlady and A Dream of Armageddon, respectively, form the basis for the contrast and comparison in their point of view and how it affects their stories. Though different in subject matter, both Dahl and Wells short stories tell their conceptions through fiction in an everyday setting. According to the two short stories, The Landlady and A Dream of Armageddon, both are written by different authors with different concepts. The Landlady takes place in a household setting while A Dream of Armageddon takes place in a moving train where the narrator gives the story to the writer. The basis of comparison of the two stories is that in The Landlady, Dahl tells the stories from his own experience while in the Dream of Armageddon, Wells gets the story from someone else.

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Both stories start when the narrator is traveling from point A to point B. The Landlady, Billy, is going from London to Bath. A Dream of Armageddon, the writer, is on the train at Rugby. The Landlady, the narrator, is the main character in the story as he experiences first-hand information as he searches for a place to rest in the night. He is torn between spending the night in a pub while socializing with other people or spending the night at a comfortable house, "Bed and Breakfast." Billy chooses the Bed and Breakfast over the pub because it is less than half what he was willing to pay.

A Dream of Armageddon, the story happens on a train where the writer happens to be traveling comes across a man that is interested in sharing stories about dreams he has been having. It sparks a conversation that lasts up to the train destination. The two stories are different in that the narrator in The Landlady encounters an older woman aged between 45 and 50 years while on the train, the writer encounters an elderly looking troubled man. Although the stories are diverse, they work in a more relaxed way to communicate their ideas. Billy is living in the current world while the narrator in Dream of Armageddon is transitioning between the present world and his dreams. The Landlady leaves Billy in suspense in most cases or even talking in phrases that Billy does not understand, going him with many questions crossing his mind. Some questions crossing Billy's mind were like what is on the third floor and why 17 is an ideal age.

In Dream of Armageddon, the writer gets to understand what the narrator goes through in his dreams, while in The Landlady, Billy is more or less living the dream because of the stuffed animals, third floor, which remained a mystery to him to the end. In both stories, there is a symbol of comfort and warmth and safety, and also the upcoming disaster can be felt from a distance. The Landlady, friendly-looking bed, tea, and biscuits symbolize comfort and security in the very beginning. Later on, Billy realizes the warning signs, and the troubling nature of the boarding-house, the images of luxury in this story become images of decay, danger, and death.

A Dream of Armageddon, the narrator, talks about a lady who is his wife in his dream acts as a symbol of comfort and solace. He was also a political, and in his tenure, there was peace all over as a symbol of security. He left a career filled with lies and intrigues to go and save the remaining part of his life also all the responsibilities left in the world behind and escaped with the woman he loves to paradise. Trouble starts piling up when a man came from the north bearing a message for him persuading him to do the right thing. The strange-looking man was his door back to reality, but he did not want to get associated with the fact. Tension rises, and they got forced to get a boat to escape the war they were warned. The similarity in these two stories is that as others choose their responsibility, the narrator chooses the dream which he is severely punished for that choice. If Billy decides to sleep in the pub, he would not have faced the consequences encountered with the older woman. As both stories end, some birds get noticed that haunts the individuals in both scenarios.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both writers try to explain that the choices we make today will have more significant repercussions in the future. We should take hold of our responsibility no matter the situation we left it. Making amends is one way of taking responsibility, but we should not wait long to take action. In both cases, if Billy and the narrator took action when signs started showing up, nobody would have been occurred by the aftermath of their choices.