While reading the stories assigned as my homework, I have noticed that a lot of the characters are very similar but yet the majority of them are different. For instance, at least in every story there is a manipulator or an exploiter in the story but there is always at least one character who seems to stand out from all the others. In this case, I have chosen to compare Elisenda from “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and Paul’s Mother from “The Rocking Horse Winner.” They have very similar characteristics like both being rude, cruel/harsh, greedy, ambitious, insecure, etc. To begin with, both characters in the stories deal with a problem that turns them into really “ugly” people. Signifying that these personal problems are the reasons they have bad attitudes. For instance Paul’s Mother throughout the whole story until the end is very rude to her family. Lawrence wrote, “The mother had a small income, and the father has a small income, but not nearly enough for the social position which they had to keep up” (100-101). This shows that the Paul’s mother would blame her husband for their financial problems. She expressed that the reason why they were not able to live the life of the rich, was because the children would take up much of the income the husband would bring in. In “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Elisenda shows her rudeness by the actions she does when she sees the old man. Marquez wrote, “Elisenda let out a sigh of relief for herself, and for him, when she saw him pass over the last houses, holding himself up in some way with the risky flapping of a senile vulture” (403). By Elisenda acting this way, it proved that he was an annoyance to her and that she did not really care much for him. This also showed that Elisenda would ignore him and not pay attention to him. Secondly, both mothers were very greedy characters in the two stories. Elisenda showed her greediness by charging the reside