Compreing and Contrasting

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Claire is an urban fantasy for young adults set in modern day New York. At the beginning of the first book, “City Of Bones”, Clary, the main character or the protagonist is at a club called Pandemonium with her best friend, a boy named Simon. Clary notices a boy and a girl sneak into a storage room and thinks nothing of it until two boys follow them inside, both armed with knives. She tells Simon to get a security guard and she herself goes cautiously into the storage room, fearing a murder is about to take place.
When Clary enters the storage room she sees that the first boy to enter the room, the one that entered with the girl, is tied up and that the girl and the two other boys seem to be taunting him. One of the untied boys talks about things like demons, things Clary doesn’t believe exist outside the real world. Clary is unable to stop the boys from killing the tied boy, but when Simon and the security guard enter the room they cannot see the two boys and the girl.
Clary soon finds out that the boy who had been murdered was a demon, a creature from another dimension come to earth to use up its energy. The two murderer boys and the girl, who had been on their side along were not murders at all, but something called Shadow Hunters, warriors whose job it is to kill demons and protect the world from demons. Among these three Shadow Hunters are Isabelle, Jace, and Alec.
Alec is tall. His hair is dark and he has blue eyes that make him attractive, but not overly distracting. He is more average looking than anything and could easily fade into the background.
Jace, on the other hand, immediately draws the eyes of many girls instantly. He is described in the books regularly as very attractive and draws the eyes of more than a few girls over the course of the novels. He is described as having golden hair, eyes, and skin. He is compared to things centered around light and life and is someone who is hard not to look at. Though, he is shorter than Alec, but he makes a much bigger commotion upon entering a room.
Alec and Jace’s persona couldn’t be any more different.
Jace is a loud, self-loving, cocky, teenager with a taste for sarcasm. Jace radiates confidence in everything that he does. He always knows the right things to say and will never admit that he is wrong. He is full of himself and thinks that he is the most hilarious person in the world. In the first novel of C. Claire’s Series, City of Bones, Jace and Clary get read by a fortune teller who said that Jace will fall in love with the wrong person. Upon a later conversation with the same fortune teller is this dialogue.
"Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?'( Fortune Teller)
Jace said, "Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself."
"At least," she (Fortune Teller) said, "you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland."
"Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting." (Jace)
Jace does have a darker side, though. His father was murdered when he was very young and he has a hard time forming serious relationships with people. Jace has had a hard life and though he feels that all of his ways are justified, be cant make connections and he is afraid of love. Jace says, “The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he’d learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be destroyed.” Jace may be funny and witty and charming and very vain, but deep down he is a tortured and scared soal who is apprehensive about relationships and love.
Alec is much more quiet than Jace, not as obnoxious. Alec is self assured, which comes, in part from growing up in a rich and well known family. He tends to fall into the background, behind Jace, where he enjoys being. He is more of a follower to Jace’s leading personality. He is self conscious and more reserved that Jace, but he feels that it is his responsibility to protect Jace. Alec, when he feels that someone he loves is in danger has a tendency to lash out and he is not a found person of newcomers. Alec is overprotective and not a very accepting person, especially if you are different from him. A quote from Simon demonstrates how Alec makes people feel: “Because,” Simon said. “You seem to hate me most of the time. I don’t take it that personally, even if I did save your life. You seem to kind of hate the whole world. And besides, we have practically nothing in common. But I see you looking at Jace, and I see myself looking at Clary, and I figure—maybe we have that one thing in common.” In this quote Simon is saying that he secretly loves Clary and he is saying that he knows that Alec is gay and that he loves jace. Simon is saying that he understands Alec and hopes that he will open up to him.
Jace and Alec, though they are very different people, compliment each other and they rely on each other for both survival and companionship. Jace and Alec are something called Parabatai.
“Parabatai,” said Jace. “It means a pair of warriors who fight together—who are closer than brothers. Alec is more than just my best friend. My father and his father were parabatai when they were young. His father was my godfather—that’s why I live with them. They’re my adopted family.”Jace and Alec have a special and unique bond that they rely on for support. Jace needs to be the fighter and he always needs Alec to watch his back. Jace brings out the best in Alec. Clary noticed this when eating with them at a diner:
Alec laughed. “Do you remember—,” he began, and launched into a story that contained so many mysterious names and proper nouns that Clary didn’t even bother trying to follow it. She was looking at Alec instead, watching him as he talked to Jace. There was a kinetic, almost feverish energy to him that hadn’t been there before. Something about Jace sharpened him, brought him into focus. If she were going to draw them together, she thought, she would make Jace a little blurry, while Alec stood out, all sharp, clear planes and angles.Jace is the only one who can animate Alec, he feels conferrable and can openly have fun around Jace. Alec and jace compliment each other and highlight each others personalities. Neither would be the same without the other.
“Jace?” It was Alec, his tone commanding. He had given Clary and Simon an astonished look, but then his attention went, as it al ways did, to Jace. He might not be in love with Jace any more, if he ever really had been, but they were still parabatai, and Jace was always first on his mind in any battle.