Two short stories You Gave My Hyacinths by Janette Turner Hospital and Irwin Shaw's Girls in Their Summer Dresses explore the human appearance serious sexual desires. Both stories share a tone of desperation. The main characters bring external conflicts with the minor characters. In both stories the main characters go through a situation where they have to make a change in themselves by changing the behavior and attitude of the minor characters, but end up learning something from them and living a normal life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In each of the stories the main character attempts to change the attitude of the minor character but ends up losing and learning something from him instead. In Janette's book, the teacher wants to change Dellis' attitude, improve her and at least make her finish high school, but instead ends up learning from her that the only reason she hated her was because the person she loved, Gian, he liked it and wanted to fuck her. . This is clearly shown when Dellis and the teacher are walking near Gian's house, "Gian says you are beautiful. Gian says you....he says he would like you....that's why I hated you. But now I don't do it (80) This is a hard blow for the teacher. Because of this she finds out why Dellis hated her and ends up learning something new instead of teaching her. She wants to change Michael and wants him not to look at other women around. to him and just focus on her and start spending some time with her. This can be seen when these couples are walking on the streets of New York, Frances says "I have an idea, let's stay together, you and me. , we are always neck deep in people who drink their scotch or drink our scotch, we only see each other in bed..."(4) However later she understands how Michael is and will not change. This can be seen from Michael's reaction Michael when asked by Frances whether or not he will make a move. He replies: "yes, I know I will" (11). In both stories these are also the turning points, so the similarity between these stories continues. During Irwin's breakthrough, Frances also tries to get to a point where Michael doesn't like her, but finds that he likes her but also wants other women, "I love you, but I want them too, okay?"(11).Irwin and Janette also kept their stories pretty short. The setting of both stories is described in the first two paragraphs, not much effort is put into it. Both stories are about characters rather than setting, plot, or theme. As the story progresses we can see how we develop a better understanding of the characters. Michael in Irwin's story and Dellis in Janette's story are the minor characters in the stories. Both of these characters deal with human sexual desire. Dellis wants to enjoy life and have fun. She is open and tells everything to her teacher. “It hurt when she stood naked in front of me” (78). She comments that the teacher showing Dellis wouldn't hide anything from her. It also doesn't take long for Dellis to reveal her true love and the fact that she got fucked. “That's where Gian and I did it.” "Done what?" “He did it, he fucked me!”(79) This also shows Dellis' innocence, Janette amazingly describes how a fifteen year old should be open, aggressive and mischievous. On the other hand, Michael in Irwin's Masterpiece brings with him similar desires. He wants to have it all while no one notices. He looks at women as if he desires them. “I love you, but I want them too, okay.”(11) Irwin's quote clearly demonstrates this. Because of these problems the characters.