Comparing Love in To Dance with the White dog and Moulin Rouge :: comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing Love in To Dance with the White dog and Moulin Rouge   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel, To Dance with the White dog, Terry Kay crafts a love story about Sam Peek and his wife Cora, that seems to extend beyond the grave in the form of a white dog.   At the same time, the film Moulin Rouge is a fast paced, tensely dramatic, love triangle between Christian, the poor writer, Satine, the courtesan that everyone fancies, and the Duke, who has the money to transform the Moulin Rouge into a theatre with real merit. Both movies center on the main theme of love but take two different stands on that love. While Satine is unable to concentrate solely on a single relationship, Sam Peek is able to focus solely on the love of his life, Cora.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In To Dance with the White Dog, there are several instances that show Sam's devotion and unchanging love for Cora.   When Sam writes in his journal, at the beginning of the novel, "Today my wife died.   We were married 57 good years" (Kay 9).   Sam was completely devoted to his wife for over half a century and even after her death with his devotion to White Dog, who he perceived to be his deceased wife watching over him.   Even though Satine was unable to pursue her love for Christian due to her death, her ambiguity towards her two suitors makes the viewer wonder if she could be as devoted to one love as Sam is devoted to his wife.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A prime example of Sam's enduring fidelity is when he goes to his wife's grave, "[...] He took the hoe and cut away at the weeds, balancing on his walker, until the plot was clean" (Kay 42).   No matter what his circumstance, Sam is going to do what he can for his wife, even if it is simply taking care of his wife's grave.   Christian does something similar to this by writing Satine's and his story, so that the world would know about their love.  Ã‚   The love is there, but the audience is unable to see if Satine and Christian's love would last as long as Sam and Cora's due to Satine's untimely death at the end of the film.