Compare and Contrast: "Little Cog-burt" & "Cotton Candy"

The stories of "Little Cog-burt" and "Cotton Candy" have many similarities. The most obvious of these similarities is the authors. Both are women from the Caribbean, writing narrative stories that tell a message. Another similarity would be the point of view that the story is told from. Both stories are told from the perspective of the main characters but written as if narrated in the third person. There are also many similarities between these main characters. Both Moira in "Little Cog-burt" and Lola in "Cotton Candy" are women. Both are distraught over something they desire, Moira a sense of normalcy lost, and Lola her unfulfilled desires. Both also have a redeeming arc in the end; Moira begins to realize that the children of the Caribbean are more like her own little girls than she at first thought, while Lola in the end attains what she always wanted.

Just as these two stories have their similarities, they have just as many differences, if not more. The authors were from different islands (Dominica and Cuba) and were active during different times. While each focus on a social issue, "Little Cog-burt" addresses the condition of the ethno-African majority as second-class citizens to wealthy white planters. Alternatively, "Cotton Candy" focuses more on the lasting repercussions of a overly-controlling parent. "Little Cog-burt" spans a short period of time, only one to two days, while "Cotton Candy" covers almost the entire span of Lola's life, from little girl to old woman. There is also a difference in each character’s redeeming arc. Moira redeems herself by changing, while Lola redeems herself by reverting to how she was before she changed.