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Love In The Air Vs. Summer

The Differences between Two Stories
Ha Jin’s “Love in the Air” and David Updike’s “Summer” are both stories of imagination and desire however, they are vastly different in many ways.   The three biggest differences between the stories are the socialization skills of the protagonists, the object of the protagonists’ affection, and the effects the infatuation has on the protagonists.
One difference is the protagonists’ socialization skills.   Kang is a shy, post adolescent, awkward young man.   “His whole person was marked by abnormal largeness except for his voice, which was small and soft.   Whenever he spoke, he sounded as though he was mumbling to himself” (79).   He has left his farm life to join the military and work as a telegraph operator on an isolated military base in the middle of winter.
In contrast, Homer is a typical teenage boy, experiencing another one of his summer breaks.   “His days are spent in the adolescent pursuit of childhood pleasures: tennis, a haphazard round of golf, a variant of baseball adapted to the local geography” (304).   Homer is in no rush to grow up.   This particular summer Homer is spending it with his best friend and his best friend’s family at the lake.
Because of their settings, the protagonists both experience an infatuation during the stories.   Since Kang is isolated in the middle of winter with just men, he is susceptible to falling in love easily with “the sweet female voice…echoing in his ears on the telephone” (81), and the “ fingers delicately tapping Morse code with elegance and fluency over the telegraph machine” (81).   “His body grew tense as he became engrossed in the sways and ripples of the heavenly melody” (81).   Whereas Homer’s surroundings are much more pleasant than Kang’s, he, too, is somewhat isolated at the lake with his best friend and his best friend’s family.   Because he is in daily contact with her, Homer begins to notice Fred’s sister Sandra as more than a friend; he sees her as a young woman, not...