The two text "20th Century Ghost" and "The Lawyer and the Ghost" are short stories written about ghost. The "20th Century Ghost centers around a ghost that haunts a movie theater while the "The Lawyer and the Ghost center around a ghost that haunts a house. These two stories' plots are very different, but even though the plots are very different these stories do have some similarities and other differences. In both short stories both of the ghost in the stories have a similar ending, there are people there that help the ghosts, and lastly ghosts are still people. The differences between the two short stories are that the events in both lead to a happy ending are very different, the duration of both hauntings are different, and the people that are alive in the stories.

The first similarities between these two short stories is that both of the stories have a similar ending for the ghosts. In "The Lawyers and the Ghost" short stories the ghost end in a happy way. The ghost "...never came back again..." (Dickens 309) and this was all because of the words said by the tenant. The "20th Century Ghost" ends with happily as well as the woman ghost was treated to a "...movie star kiss..." (Hill 326). This indicates a happy ending because the short stories also point out that the kiss was the "... way people ream of being kissed..." (Hills 326) thus if this is a dream come true then the stories must have ended happily. Both ending also end in a very ambiguous way. The ghost in "The Lawyer and the Ghost" leaves the tenant's room but it is never said if the ghost entered the afterlife. The "20th Century Ghost" stories also ends ambiguously as a movies kiss happens but it if never know if the ghost passes into the afterlife. Both these characteristic are important as the happy ending shows the read that even in death there is always something good that will happen to you. The cliffhanger-like ending is shows a relationship between the two stories by showing that even in death adventure still awaits people. The questions at the end of the stories also allows the read to imagine in both stories what happen to the specters. 

The second similarity is that there are people that help the ghost have that happy ending at the end of the short stories. "The Lawyer and the Ghost" has the tenant of the room in the story enlighten the ghost about the room situation he is in. The tenant of the room shows the ghost that the ghost has the "opportunity of visiting the fairest spots of earth..." (Dickens 309). These words of wisdom allow the ghost the move on a stated at the end that the ghost did not come back to the room. Then in the "20th Century Ghost" story the ghost in the story had Alec who help make sure that the movie theater stayed open. This helps lead to the happy ending of the story because Alec was told that if he did not seal the movie theater then the girl would be "... crying inside..." (Hill 324) the building. This similarity of people helping the ghost shows that people will always try to help people even when that person is dead. The help can be different but people will always try to help other.

The last similarity is that both the ghost are shown as still being people despite being a spirit. "The Lawyer and the Ghost" shows that the ghost are reasonable person. The ghost accepts the tenant's logic of how ghost should live in better places. This acceptance of the logic shows that the ghost is still human as accepting the logic of a human is only something a human can do.in the "20th Century Ghost" the ghost girl gets a happy ending and this happy ending shows that ghost woman is still a girl. These two ideas that the ghost are humans help moves the story to where it needs to end.

The first difference between the two short stories is that the events that lead to the happy ending are very different. The happy ending in "The Lawyer and the Ghost" ended happily by the use of logic as the tenant pointed out to the ghost that the ghost had a choice. Then the events that lead to the ending of the "20th Century Ghost" was through one magical moment that lead to the ending. This difference in ending shows all people are very different there is no one way that can help all people move on. Some people need to have some emotional moments to help them move on to the next stage of their life. This emotional moments usually deals with love as at the end of the "20th Century Ghost" Alec kissed the ghost/ Then there are people that need the help of reason move them onto their next stage. The logic helps the person reason out the way to the next stage. The logic helps them realize that there is something wrong in their current situation that helps them move on.

Another difference between the two short stories is that they both have different haunting duration. In "The Lawyer and the Ghost" The tenant was only haunted by the ghost in the room for only a few minutes. Then the tenant told the ghost that what he is doing is ridiculous and the ghost left after realizing that the tenant was right. The ghost in "20th Century Ghost" waited for a very long time. The exact time is not known in the story of how long the ending of the book happened, but the guess is correct to say a long while. In the short story Alec gets the theater from Harry, the previous owner, and the ghost in the story died during when Harry was owner. Then the story also tells the reader that the end of the story happened when Alec was an old man. This again shows to the reader that the duration of wait for the ghost in "20th Century Ghost" short story is a very long time. The difference in duration is meaningful because of how the time of the happy ending tells the reader that a person just has to wait for the happy ending. The duration also shows reader that the happiness can come at any time.

The last difference between the two stories is that the people that are alive in these stories are very different from each other. The people that are alive in "The Lawyer and the Ghost" is just a man that was not affected by the ghost in the slightest. The difference in "20th Century Ghost" is that the people that are alive are people that were affected by the ghost. This difference is really important because of what it means to the reader. In "The Lawyer and the Ghost" short story the reader is told by Dickens that they could be someone that leaves no mark on people and can only be directed. In "20th Century Ghost" Hills shows the reader that they can affect people in small ways. "20th Century Ghost" shows the reader that you can affect people in the small ways as the ghost shows herself to select people and these people become important people. The people that see the ghost become important people in the film industry. This is Hills message to the people while in contrast to Dickens. A person could always be a follower and never someone that affects the lives of people as shown by the actions of the tenant.

In conclusion, the two short stories "The Lawyer and the Ghost", written by Charles Dickens, and "20th Century Ghost", written by Joe Hill, are very similar and also very different. The short stories are very similar in the message given by the ending, the ghosts, and the people in the stories. This message of similarity shows people that there is a better choice and life for every person, still the short stories are also very different. The two short stories are very different in how they portray a message and how the difference works together to make a message. The difference help make a message to the reader about life and happiness. The differences also help make sure to tell different messages that the reader must know. These differences and similarities of the stories show people that life can get better and not always just worse.
