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The content is correct and you have given nice examples as evidence.Literature 1Google Docs Assignmentby: Gordon Pretorius, Wout Veken and Raven Hak. Table of ContentsDefinition of conflict – Gordon Page 2 Examples of the types of conflict Story 1: Gordon “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off” – Nadine Gordimer Page 4 – 5Story 2: Gordon “In The South” – Salman Rushdie Page 6 – 7Story 3: Wout “Lamb of the slaughter” – Roald Dahl PageStory 4: Wout “The Sniper” – Liam O’Flaherty PageStory 5: Raven “Bullet in the Brain” – Tobian Wolff PageStory 6: Raven “The Lottery” – Shirley Jackson PageBibliography Page Definition of conflict: A challenge or feud faced by the protagonist in a story. A story must provide a form of conflict as this is the driving force behind the plot. There are four main types of conflict branching off of internal and external conflicts that could be present in a short story. Elements of conflict: Internal:Man Vs Self A struggle that is faced by the protagonist within him or herself, for example being depressed.
An example of self-conflict can be seen in shows on television such as survivor where groups of people have to survive on an island for a certain period of time. In this situation the person is taken to a completely isolated location, they have limited resources and have to deal with the onslaught of mother nature. Surviving in these conditions takes a toll on the physical well being but moreso on the mental state of the person. The person who is mentally the strongest will make it to the end.
(Smit, n.d.)External:Man Vs Man Conflict between two different characters or character and element of a story, an example of this type of conflict can be seen in the story of Harry Potter.
Harry Potter’s enemy here is Voldemort. As a baby, Harry was marked by this evil magician, Voldemort murdered Harry’s parents and spared his life. As the story continues, Harry finally has a face off with Voldemort.(“Movie Review: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2”, 2011)Man Vs Society Values / customs of the society which the character is a part of are questioned. An example of this type of conflict can be seen in the story, Teacher Man.
The black teacher in this story is faced with racial problems on his return from serving his country during the war. As he searches and applies for a job, he gets turned down due to the colour of his skin.(Razack, 2017)Man Vs Nature The character struggles against forces of nature such as animals, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis and so forth. An example of this type of conflict can be seen in the film “127 Hours”. In this film the main character goes on a mountain climbing excursion on his own. The unthinkable happens and he becomes trapped under an enormous rock, it comes to a point where he has to try and remove his own arm to free himself.(V. D Leun, 2012)https://www.
nps.gov/mora/learn/education/upload/background-elements-of-literature_sr.pdf (not APA yet)http://www.imdb.com/list/ls076069267/ https://www.
mpmschoolsupplies.com/p-17279-literary-elements-poster-set.aspx 6 Stories to analyze Co-reader and date to discuss with writerWriter and date to complete analysis Content checker who sees if it meets all the requirements on the rubricLanguage editor who makes sure it is all formal and effective 1. “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off” – Nadine GordimerGordon WoutGordon2. “In The South” – Salman RushdieRavenGordonWoutGordon3. “Lam of the Slaughter” – Roald DahlRavenWout4.
“The Sniper” – Liam O’FlahertyWout5. “The Lottery” – Shirley JacksonRaven6.”Bullet in the brain”- Tobias Wolffwww.scribbr.com ? Plagiarism checker/ APA generator “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off” by Nadine Gordimer Why this story?I chose this story due to the connection with my country, South Africa. Having some previous knowledge on the apartheid era, it made sense to try and analyze it and read about something that has been a part of forming the history of my country. The reality is that conflict played a major role in the forming of this now ‘rainbow nation’.
To my surprise, the story took an unexpected turn, the way it ended is what makes the story. Short Summary: In “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off” (Gordimer, n.d). the main character and protagonist, a white farmer in apartheid South Africa shoots and kills one of his black farm workers. The story talks about the farmer picking up his farm hand Lucas and taking him out on a hunt. The hunt turns bad and Marais Van der Vyver (the farmer) kills his farm worker with a rifle which he did not know was loaded. This tragic death was merely an accident as the “bakkie” of the farmer hit a pothole whilst they chase a “kudu” and the gun goes off, striking Lucas in the head. Marais had to give his side of the story and due to the times in which this took place, the local as well as the international media would present it to suit the apartheid story, they will find it hard to believe his side of the story, he is faced with a problem in that he has a secret which he can’t share, the secret being that Lucas is his son.
No one knows and no one can know. Conflict of Man Vs Self: The black farm worker was a friend to the white farmer. This is seen when a report in one of the newspapers quotes Marais saying, “He was my friend. I always took him hunting with me” (Gordimer, n.d). Marais Van der Vyver’s conflict comes from within in this situation as he has killed not only a friend, but someone he cared about.
The ending to the story takes a wild turn and it has one feeling heartbroken, as the speaker says, “The young black callously shot, through the negligence of the white man, was not the farmer’s boy, he was his son” (Gordimer, n.d). One would think that by leaving that till the very end of the story, it would confuse the reader. However, quite the opposite happens, which makes the conflict that the main character has with himself extremely clear. The main character killed his own son, which no one else but him and the the mother of the black boy will ever know, not because they do not want anyone else to know but because they can not know.
Conflict of Man Vs Society: (Society forms the antagonist in this story)This short story is set during the apartheid era in South Africa and the conflict is coming from within the country as well as around the world. “The papers at home will quote the story as it appeared in the overseas press, and in the back-and-forth he and the black man will become those crudely-drawn figures on anti-apartheid banners, units in statistics of white brutality against the blacks…” (Gordimer, n.d). The plague of apartheid surrounding South Africans in this specific time does not leave any room for imagination and has the main character portrayed as a racist monster.
Furthermore, the main character comes into conflict with his direct surroundings when he still has to solemnly swear that the statement he is giving is true. “Although a man of such standing in the district, Van der Vyver had to go through the ritual of swearing that it was the truth” (Gordimer, n.d). This being said, if things did not get better at the time, the statement that has been given by Marais could be burned along with many others as police stations could succumb to violent mobs. If not, this will be on record for the rest of his and his families lives. As a white person during apartheid, having to prove your innocence when killing a black person was most likely overlooked and authorities would look the other way.
In this instance, it was different. Marais Van der Vyver also faces conflict with the society surrounding him as he is not able to share his difference of opinion. “How could they know that they do not know – anything.
” He is not able to share with anyone that the black boy which he accidentally shot was his son. Additional sources:Gundersen Christer (2010) https://ndla.no/en/node/3555?fag=42 http://katherinemaloney.blogspot.
nl/2016/09/infographic-analysis-of-moment-before.html ”In The South” by Salman Rushdie Why this story?I chose this story as in the bigger scheme of things, it points out the harsh reality in life. Things do not always go the way we plan, or the way we want it to go. Salman Rushdie uses two men around the same age to point out how things could change throughout our lives. Sometimes we expect it to change and sometimes it is out of our control. As our element of choice was conflict, this story was an easy decision as it is oozing with various types of dissension. Short Summary: Salman Rushdie uses this short story to show two different perspectives on life, most importantly the perception of death.
The story presents two old men, Junior who is the antagonist and Senior the protagonist. The two men live next to one and other in exactly the same flat where only a wall separates the two of them, much like their opinions on life. Both of them are from the same town, they have the same name starting with a “V” and only a couple of weeks separate them when it comes to age.
Due to the one being a few weeks older than the other, they have chosen to name themselves Senior and Junior. Senior has a big family with over two hundred relatives, he has married for a second time and does not like the company or the idea of his wife or his family, his wish every morning is that he would have died the night before. Contrary to this, Junior has no living relatives and has only one friend, 20 years younger than him. Junior did not live up to the expectations of his parents but lived his life to the fullest and still enjoys life at the age of 81.
The day that Junior falls is the day that a different side of Senior is seen. Junior passes away because of his fall and Senior is left without his ‘better half’ or his “shadow” as he says. Senior is left no option but to see what death can do as a tragic tsunami hits their shores and wipes out most of the fishing village. Conflict of Man Vs Self:Junior was the one that had conflict within himself due to setting very high expectations and not fulfilling them.
“Junior’s life had been a disappointment to him. He had not expected to be ordinary” (Rushdie, 2009). Even though Junior had very high expectations of himself he was still a fairly happy man. The real conflict of man vs self is seen in the fast approaching reality of old age. Both Junior and Senior are facing this struggle. This can be seen when Junior talks about his weak ankles, “Sometimes when I get out of bed I do not think that they will bear my weight.” (Rushdie, 2009).
This is a consequence of old age, something that is becoming difficult for the two old men to accept. Conflict of Man Vs Nature:The conflict of nature comes up in this story firstly when the earthquake strikes and sends ripples through the country. “The next morning, in the south of the planet, far away from Senior’s hometown, but not far enough, there was a great earthquake under the ocean’s surface…” (Rushdie, 2009). There had never been an earthquake in the city and everyone would go outside to see what had happened.
Unknown to them a tragedy would follow when “…the first giant wave arrived… The coastal areas were smashed.” (Rushdie, 2009). The beaches were smashed and so were the little villages that populated the coast line. Again, leaving Senior alive to his despise. Conflict of Man Vs Man: Senior has a number of conflicts.
Firstly there is conflict between Senior and his relatives, even though this comes only from his side. He is never interested in having any kind of contact with his family and views them as a burden, this can be seen when the narrator says “..
.but abundance gave the aesthetically inclined Senior a permanent low-level headache… If I had been sterile, he told Junior frequently, how peaceful life would be” (Rushdie, 2009). Senior feels that he has been punished for having so many relatives, children and grandchildren. This conflict he has can also be linked to conflict with himself as in a way he is hinting at being disappointed in himself, he has created his own misfortune. Furthermore Senior has conflict with his second wife and this can be seen when he says, “Not having much choice at my age…I chose you” (Rushdie, 2009).
Not only does it show is utter disrespect towards his wife, it also shows that Senior has absolutely no bedside manners, it seems that he has no sense of care for the emotions of others around him. (Other possible quotes to integrate here:) “His was a family of mosquitos, he thought, a buzzing swarm and love was their itchy bite.” “If only there were a coil one could light to keep one’s relations away…” “.
..If only there were a net around one’s cot that kept them out.
” ”Lamb to the slaughter” by Roald DahlWhy this story?Short Summary:Mary Maloney has a husband who is the chief of the local police department. On one evening, Mary was waiting for her husband to come home. Normally, the husband doesn’t talk before he has had a drink. But this particular evening, he didn’t want to talk at all. Mary tried to lighten up the mood, but to no avail. He was commanding her on what to do even though Mary just wanted to help.
The husband confessed to adultery and it made Mary feel nauseous with a desire to vomit, but still decided to make supper. She was going to prepare a leg of lamb, but at that point the husband said he was going out. Mary walked behind him and without any pause, struck him in the back of the head. The police investigated the incident with Mary in the room. They had no idea that Mary was the one who killed her husband. Once they realised though, Mary began to chuckle.
Man vs Self:Mary is a standard housewife and loves her hardworking husband. Her days consist of perfect routines. She knows when things happen everyday, perfectly on the clock. This brings her comfort and makes the days predictable. When an unpredictable event occurs, however, she starts to have a mental breakdown. In this particular story, the husband did not behave like usual and it made Mary feel uneasy. Her instincts were correct.
The husband confessed to adultery and this put Mary in a dilemma between making a scene or carrying on as usual. These thoughts made her nauseous: “She couldn’t feel anything at all- except a slight nausea and a desire to vomit” (Dahl, 1953). The conflict with herself is the choices she wants to make, evaluating her best options. The news spun her routine-like life around like a whirlwind. She is trying to deal with the situation accordingly, though this of course did not happen.
Man vs Society:Mary stated that society does not take care of senior police officers. They have to work just as hard as younger police officers. Mary stated: “I think it’s a shame,” she said, “that when a policeman gets to be as senior as you, they keep him walking about on his feet all day long.” (Dahl, 1953) The conflict is about the lack of care for the elderly in the police force.
Man vs Man:This conflict is between Mary and her husband. Mary’s husband told her that had an affair and instantly told her that the news could not reach the public, because it would hurt his career. He said: “So there it is,” he added. “And I know it’s kind of a bad time to be telling you, bet there simply wasn’t any other way. Of course I’ll give you money and see you’re looked after.
But there needn’t really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn’t be very good for my job.” (Dahl, 1953) Even though the husband is prepared to give Mary money and care, he still seems very selfish. Mary was furious, but kept calm. She went to make supper and suddenly snapped. She took a frozen leg of a lamb she was preparing and swung her husband in the back of his head, killing him instantly. “The Sniper” by Liam O’FlahertyWhy this story?Summary:The story takes place in Dublin where a republican sniper was watching on a roof in the city.
The sniper lit a cigarette, but as immediately fired at by an opposing marksman on the other side of the street. He put out his cigarette and crawled to the left. He carefully looked again and a second shot was fired, but this time The sniper saw the flash. He re-positioned himself and at this point an armoured vehicle belonging to the enemy drove past. Sniper bullets are useless to an armoured vehicle like that.
A woman stopped the vehicle to point at the rooftop were the sniper was stationed. The man in the turret of the vehicle showed himself and the sniper took him and the woman out. After some fighting between the two snipers, the republican sniper came out victorious. He was curious to see who the marksman was.
He went over to his rooftop only to find his brother.Man vs Nature:The conflict with the sniper and nature is the fact that the sun is going down. This severely limits the view distance and overall clarity for the sniper. Because of this he can not be as effective as he would have been in the daylight. Because it is dark, lighting a cigarette would give away his position. The sniper was craving a cigarette, but nature would not let him, because he would let other snipers know where he was stationed..
Man vs Man:This conflict is between the republican sniper and the opposing marksman. Ireland is at the brink of a civil war between the republicans and the free staters. The republican sniper is fulfilling his duty by shooting at the Free staters sniper. After putting him down though, he then uncovered that it was his brother all along. Man vs Society: Society was divided into the republicans and the free staters. The republicans strived for a completely free Ireland, while the free staters Stayed true to the treaty provided by Great Britain. The treaty stated that: 26 of Ireland’s 32 counties would get their own army and police, while still recognising the British monarch as head of state (2016). The sniper was a republican, which creates a conflict with the free staters, Hence the civil war.
http://theirishwar.com/history/irish-civil-war/ ”The Lottery” by Shirley JacksonWhy this book?This book appealed to me because of the title, having a chance to win something life changing always interests me. When somebody wins something somebody else wants there will always be conflict be it internal or external, again good for analysing conflict.Short summary:This story starts in a fairytale like village where everything appears perfect, kids playing together, parents talking and joking with each other.
They are all excited, for today is the day of the lottery an age old tradition. Mr. Summers brings the big box filled with pieces of paper. Mr. Summers is the organiser of this event and responsible for the outcome thus the antagonist. As every family head grabs a card it becomes clear that Bill Hutchinson has it. so every member of his household grabs a card. His two kids and him do not have anything on their cards but his wife (Tessie Hutchinson the protagonist) has a black spot on her card.
While she keeps saying “it isn’t fair”(Jackson, Shirley, The lottery) the townsfolk all start grabbing stones and pebbles.Man Vs Society:Tessie Hutchinson wants to change the age old tradition that is the lottery but only since she and her family have been drawn. she begins with complaints like “You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!”Jackson, 2005).
but she quickly gets shushed by the other townsfolk, in reaction she starts telling them to let Don and Eva take their chances which is against the tradition according to mr. Summers “Daughters draw with their husbands’ families, Tessie you know that as well as anyone else.” Whatever she says nothing will get the villagers to change their tradition.
In my personal opinion this is man vs society because she is getting killed due to a tradition her little society has conducted for years though she may not be killed because of her rebelling against tradition but because of the tradition that must be upheld. She gets killed by her society.Man vs Man:In The lottery the conflict of man vs man comes up first at the point where Tessie Hutchinson start showing resistance.Tessie says “You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!”(Jackson, 2005) she gets told to “be a good sport”(Jackson, 2005) and to “shut up”(Jackson, 2005) after that the townsfolk just ignore her.
then when she wins the lottery the townsfolk start grabbing rocks to throw at her. she gets assaulted by the people in the town which is man vs man conflict. https://hubl.
hu.nl/archive/file/129662 ”Bullet in the brain” Tobias Wolff.Why this story?Tobias Wolff is a name that my aunt always talked about, so I decided to see why she was so intrigued.
She also tried to get me to read “Old school” a couple of years back. Also the title hinted at conflict so analyzing would be easy.Summary:This story is about a man named Anders (the protagonist) who is a very savage book critic. He walks into a bank near closing time which results in him waiting in a long line. He was criticising the bank employees when all of a sudden two male robbers enter the bank and have the guard on gunpoint. Anders was not in the mood so he was talking and laughing at the robbers.
The robbers are the antagonist and did not put up with this behaviour of course so they shot him after warning him.Man vs Man:The conflict of man versus man is easy in this case there are two robbers trying to steal money from others and if that is now enough they shoot Anders after he starts annoying them. This is one of the clearest cases of man vs man.Man vs Self:Why push the robbers too shoot him? Why would an average book critic laugh and annoy robbers at risk of his own life? He taunts them because of his seemingly unfounded frustration at that moment. When he gets shot it becomes clear that all the things that seemed important did not matter for he does not see that in the last seconds of his life, he sees “Heat.
A baseball field. Yellow grass, the whirr of insects, himself leaning against a tree as the boys of the neighborhood gather for a pickup game.”(Tobias Wolff,1995) He does not see his wife or his graduation or his house, he sees a scene from his youth.
Maybe this is where his internal conflict lies. He did not achieve any important things in his life. This is the conflict he has with himself.Man vs society:The robbers rob a bank in order to make money by ignoring the rules and foundations of society. They go to a place where society save its money and they break the rules by stealing other people’s money. Society tells you not to steal from nor murder your fellow man, yet these men do both. This is a clear conflict against society. Bibliography:ImagesMovie Review: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Illustration.
(2011, July 27). Retrieved January 15, 2018, from http://daman.co.id/movie-review-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2/Smid, M. (n.
d.). If the voice in your head is you, then who is listening to it? Illustration. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/158400111871443966/ Razack, S. (2017, April 6).
Benoni protest will go ahead tomorrow Illustration. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://benonicitytimes.co.za/291074/methodists-asked-to-support-peaceful-protest/ V. D Leun, G. (2012, May 6). Sisyphus Illustration. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/1000photosofnewyorkcity/7150456391/ Storieshttps://hubl.hu.nl/archive/file/129660https://hubl.hu.nl/archive/file/129670https://hubl.hu.nl/archive/file/129668https://hubl.hu.nl/archive/file/538276https://hubl.hu.nl/archive/file/129680https://hubl.hu.nl/archive/file/129662
