Same Differences

     While Jess and Emily seem very different at first, they really are more alike than they appear.  Both the girls are very passionate about what they believe in, even if the other does not agree it is important.  Emily has her company and Jess has her education and wanting to save the trees.  Their values and interests may be different, but their attitudes towards them are very similar.  

     The sisters have different views of success, but they both still believe they are successful.  Emily feels successful because her company is doing well and she has a lot of money.  Jess feels successful because she makes herself happy by doing the things she enjoys, going to school, leafletting, and learning more about her Jewish heritage.  Jess seems more successful even because she enjoys her life most of the time and does not let things bother her whereas Emily constantly is having issues with Jonathan and what the future will hold.

     Emily may think that Jess does not have her life together and is worried for her, but Jess proves that she can handle her own life and help Emily as well.  She shows Emily that she does listen to her and take what she says into consideration and is trying to improve herself when she goes to Emily's apartment after Jonathan has been killed in the plane crash.  Jess is wearing the suit that her sister had bought her and says, "I got dressed up so that you'd see... so you'd know I've come to take care of you" (335).  That is Jess's way of showing her sister how responsible she can be and how far she has come in her stages of growing up.  

Jess also shows her maturity when she stops dating Leon and ends up marrying George.  He is the type of person that Emily always wanted Jess to be with.  Both of the girls come a long way through the book, towards the end even switching personality roles.  Jess gets married while Emily donates her ring for money for research in honor of her mother, a very Jess thing to do.  The sisters seem very happy in their endings and form a closer bond with each other, something even differences cannot change.