José+v.s.+Jerry+Jack+Pulito

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Jack Pulito 6th hour Reading October 19, 2010 Jerry vs. José José is born a worker. He works all day and all night at any job he gets which is usually yard work. In fact, Mr. Clemens hires him to clean an entire pool with the help of his cousin. Because he gets up early every morning to go to work, and he never complains, José is an incredibly mature teenager. His parents do not have a lot of money so they also work relentlessly; José does not get a lot of luxuries. José, a Mexican, lives in a rural area where there is a lot of work to be done. On the other hand, Jerry lives in an orphanage because he does not have parents. Though poor, he works hard because he chops wood all day long without stopping. In his early teens, he does a better job than any man. When Jerry chops wood, his blows are rhythmic and steady, and he chops a large enough amount of wood to fill the author’s wood box. He does not care about how much he gets paid; he only wants companionship. José was “born with a ring of dirt around his neck, with grime under his fingernails, and skin calloused from the grainy twist of a shovel… His palms were already rough by the time he was three, and soon after he learned his primary color, his squint was the squint of an aged laborer. He was a born worker.” Along with his dirty blonde hair, Jerry’s eyes are direct and gray with the slightest touch of blue. His clothes are tattered and he walks around barefoot. Jerry’s face usually feels bitter cold because he lives up in the mountains. José and Jerry are very much alike in the fact that they are poor, but they work extremely hard. Jerry gets up at sunrise to walk through the mountains to his customer’s house to chop wood. He works all day until sunset. Then he walks back to the orphanage. José goes to school all day and then comes home and goes to work. He works persistently without any distractions until he finishes his job, whatever it may be. Jerry and José both care about other people. José cares for Mr. Clemens when he falls into the empty pool and hurts his head. Arnie, José’s cousin, leaves as fast as he can, but José stays and helps Mr. Clemens. He gets ice for him and helps him out of the pool. José waits with him until the police come. Jerry cares about the author in the story. He waits for her to finish typing so he can talk to her. Jerry stays longer at her house and talks with her. He wants to spend the little money he has to buy her white gloves. He thinks of her as a mother to him. These two characters are similar but are also different, as you have seen. They both seem like hard workers but in different occupations. I know I want to have the same ability as them to persistently work hard and never give up.