Compare And Contrast Halloween And Day Of The Dead

Halloween and the Day of the Dead are both two very important holidays to two very different cultures; one Spanish, the other American. Things that may include these differences are food, religions, and skeletons. Even those these two holidays are just as different as their cultures, somethings are similar as well.

One main thing that makes Day of the Dead and Halloween so different and similar is the comida (food). Food makes these two holidays so different because of the way they are prepared and such. During Halloween, kids go from house to house in their neighborhoods, trick-or-treating for candy. During Day of the Dead, families get together and make food to celebrate the dead. An example of this maybe ‘el pan merto’, which in english

is ‘bread of the dead.’ This is bread for the dead for as some kind of offering for dead relatives to eat if they are hungry. Spanish families also have ‘el mole,’ which is ‘spicy hot chocolate sauce.’ In one way, these two holidays are similar because they both involve chocolate as a part of the holidays tradition.

Another thing that makes these two holidays different and similar is skulls. In America, skeletons representing spooky decorations or costumes. In Spanish, ‘las calvera’ (Spanish for ‘skulls’), are represented as a departed soul. They would write the name on the forehead and place it on the home ‘ofrenda’ (or gravestone) to honor the return of a particular spirit. Sugar Skull art reflects the folk art style of big happy smiles, colorful icing and sparkly tin and glittery adornments. These two holidays are similar in this way because both holidays use skulls to represent the dead.

My last example that makes Day of the Dead and Halloween are similar and different is colors. One thing that makes these two holidays similar is the colors in each holidays have bright colors like orange. In Dias de los Muertos, all the colors are bright like purples and blues and oranges. They decorate their skulls and other items in these colors in remembrance of the dead. A difference between these two holidays is in Halloween, they use orange and black as ‘spooky’ colors and to show fear of the dead.

In conclusion, Halloween and the Day of the Dead are both two very important holidays to two very different cultures; one Spanish, the other, American. Things that may include these differences are food, religions, and skeletons.