Comparing Problematic Societies: The Good Person of Szechwan vs Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man Ayra Arshad College

Literature often presents itself in different themes and messages for audience members. These themes may be reoccurring or even opposing at times between different texts. The play The Good Person of Szchecwan by Bertolt Brecht and Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson are two texts that present both differences and similarities. One difference between the texts is that while a theme in Brecht’s play can be the lack of trust and good character among people, Johnson’s book shows the narrator building strong ties and relationships to people in his life. A similarity between the two writings is that both show the struggles people face with their identity. As a result, both writings give readers characters that are torn by their environment showing that people often face problems with the world they live in.

In The Good Person of Szechwan, Brecht shows audiences a town of people who lack trust and good character. The play shows three Gods come to Szechwan in need of shelter. No one in the town is willing to give shelter to the Gods due to their non-religious outlooks and selfish intentions with one man even stating “how should I know what kind of Gods you’ve got there? A fellow that lets people into his house...