In the short story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling, a mongoose lives with a family and fights the snakes Nag and his wife Nagaina to save his family. In the short story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson, a boy named Laurie goes to kindergarten and invents a fake child to avoid getting into trouble. In “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” and “Charles”, there are multiple similarities as well as differences between protagonists and antagonists. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Between the two stories, there are three main similarities in the protagonists. One of the similarities between the two protagonists is that they are both intelligent and intelligent characters. Rikki and Laurie use their intelligence to their advantage. Rikki is very curious and eventually finds a way to kill Nag and Nagaina, as well as destroy their eggs. Laurie is also very smart as he invents a whole new persona to cover up his own mistakes and punishments, which is pretty impressive considering he's only in kindergarten. Another similarity between Laurie and Rikki-Tikki is that they both want attention and to be noticed by others. After reading "Charles", I immediately thought that Laurie was in trouble because he wanted someone's attention. Rikki-Tikki also seemed to want attention. At one point in the story, he is sung to, and on several occasions, he sleeps under Teddy's chin and is tossed around by Teddy's family. The final common similarity between the protagonists is the fact that they both have an evil side. In "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", Rikki wants to destroy Nag and Nagaina's eggs. Even though he does it to keep the garden and people safe, he kills babies, which is bad. In "Charles", Laurie was also mean. In the story, he punched the teacher, bounced a swing on a girl's head until she bled, threw chalk, screamed, and did countless other things. Overall, even though the two stories seem completely different at first glance, there are definitely some main similarities between the two protagonists. However, while there may be some significant similarities between the protagonists, there are also some pretty significant differences. A definite difference between the two protagonists lies in their attitudes. While Rikki is seen as very well-mannered and heroic, Laurie is definitely seen as mean, rude, and cold-blooded. At one point in "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" it says "...and Rikki-Tikki had leaped, jumped onto the snake's back, dropped its head far between its forelegs, bit as high up the back as he could grab it, and rolled away…” (page 20). Rikki saved humans and animals from death, but Laurie was mean throughout the story (throwing pencils, telling a little girl to say bad words, etc.). Another definite difference between Laurie and Rikki is their attitude towards their family in particular. Laurie is absolutely rude to her family. On page 299 he exclaims, “Hey Pop, old mop.” On page 298 he exclaims: “Search. Look down. Look at my thumb. Damn, you're stupid. Rikki, on the other hand, abandons her personal life to save her family and other animals from deadly snakes. The last main difference between the protagonists is the fact that Laurie doesn't achieve her goal, but Rikki-Tikki definitely does. Rikki's main goal is to kill the snakes and keep his family safe, which he eventually achieves..