In The Box Man the author compares two kinds of people, a homeless man (The Box Man), and two lonely old ladies. The old ladies have everything they need. The Box Man has nothing but boxes. However, they are similar in the sense that in one way or another, they have become alone.
I see this kind of ironic similarity when comparing two kinds of moments, a moment in which one sees a shooting star, and the moment in which one knows they've finally reached a long term aspiration. At first they seem very different, after all, one is a simple moment, and the other could be monumentous. However, they truly are quite similar.
When one, perhaps a hiker, happens to look up one night, and lays eyes on a shooting star midflight, it is a small moment of wonder and simple joy. In the more grand situation, where one is acheiving something big, it is also a moment of wonder, of "Gosh, I can't believe I did it", and, obviously one of joy. But the two events are most similar after the fact. Once the star has burned out and is no longer visible, the hiker returns to looking right in front of them and they continue on their way. The same is true once the celebration of a great achievement has past. The achiever, figuratively, looks straight ahead, deciding where to focus their ambition next. Both moments can fleet so very quickly. But when they do, both reach their point of most similarity. As the hiker continues down their literal path, and the achiever down their figurative one, both can look back at their forementioned moments. Even in hard times they can look back into their moment of wonder and joy; they can carry it with them. In this respect, the two moments seem almost identical.
Good comparison Laura :)
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