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Psychological conflict in literature
Psychological conflict in literature
Psychological conflict in literature
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External and internal conflict can bring out the worst in people, and may benefit or harm them further on. A conflict that challenges the vision of reality for a person can be very difficult to deal with. “Two Fishermen” by Morley Callaghan shows itself as a significant example of this. The story features a small town news reporter, Michael Foster, who aligns with a hangman, K. Smith (“Smitty”), who is in town to execute Thomas Delaney on a controversial case. Michael feels a great deal of pressure from this relationship, as Smitty is frowned upon for his job title in times of controversy and misjustice, leading to a moral dilemma in which Michael is forced to either stand up for the dignity of others or fall into general social opinions. Michael experiences first hand the impact on himself facing conflict in his life. The story of “Two Fishermen” brings vision an intense reality; When an individual experiences a strong amount of external and internal conflict, their concept of reality can be altered, so much so that they may begin to …show more content…
Earlier in the story, when Michael meets Smitty alone in his boat, he learns about the aspects of the life of Smitty; examples being his love for fishing, his family, and, most importantly, his true perceptions of his job. “”Somebody’s got to do my job. There’s got be a hangman.”” This reveals that Smitty is not exactly proud of his work, but he sees it as necessary work. With this realization passing Michael, his plans begin to terrorize him. The original plans of Michael, to meet, converse with, and expose the hangman in a groundbreaking publication are now challenged with new understandings of Smitty. The reader of the story is now aware of conflict that will inevitably attack Michael, and this begins to change the decency of the character of
Even before the jury sits to take an initial vote, the third man has found something to complain about. Describing “the way these lawyers can talk, and talk and talk, even when the case is as obvious as this” one was. Then, without discussing any of the facts presented in court, three immediately voiced his opinion that the boy is guilty. It is like this with juror number three quite often, jumping to conclusions without any kind of proof. When the idea that the murder weapon, a unique switchblade knife, is not the only one of its kind, three expresses “[that] it’s not possible!” Juror eight, on the other hand, is a man who takes a much more patient approach to the task of dictating which path the defendant's life takes. The actions of juror three are antagonistic to juror eight as he tries people to take time and look at the evidence. During any discussion, juror number three sided with those who shared his opinion and was put off by anyone who sided with “this golden-voiced little preacher over here,” juror eight. His superior attitude was an influence on his ability to admit when the jury’s argument was weak. Even when a fellow juror had provided a reasonable doubt for evidence to implicate the young defendant, three was the last one to let the argument go. Ironically, the play ends with a 180 turn from where it began; with juror three
The story describes the protagonist who is coming of age as torn between the two worlds which he loves equally, represented by his mother and his father. He is now mature and is reflecting on his life and the difficulty of his childhood as a fisherman. Despite becoming a university professor and achieving his father’s dream, he feels lonely and regretful since, “No one waits at the base of the stairs and no boat rides restlessly in the waters of the pier” (MacLeod 261). Like his father, the narrator thinks about what his life could have been like if he had chosen another path. Now, with the wisdom and experience that comes from aging and the passing of time, he is trying to make sense of his own life and accept that he could not please everyone. The turmoil in his mind makes the narrator say, “I wished that the two things I loved so dearly did not exclude each other in a manner that was so blunt and too clear” (MacLeod 273). Once a decision is made, it is sometimes better to leave the past and focus on the present and future. The memories of the narrator’s family, the boat and the rural community in which he spent the beginning of his life made the narrator the person who he is today, but it is just a part of him, and should not consume his present.
Capote’s goal of establishing anonymity is essential to his objective of developing a completely true, accurate account of the Clutter family’s murder. However, this removal of self is impossible to achieve due to his physical presence in the event. Capote’s determination to distance himself from the story actually creates more problems for the reader. As Capote witnesses trials, personally conducts interviews with townsfolk as well as the murderers, and develops a personal tie to the event, the reader desires to hear Capote’s firsthand experience with the murder case. Capote’s goal is to focus only on factual evidence. While...
It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” Juror 8 is the only one from the twelve men who votes ‘not guilty’ in the beginning, and even he admits that it “[may be] for no reason”; however, he quite rightly thinks that this boy, this defendant in a huge system that is currently running because of people like these jurors, deserves more contemplation on his case, more recognition than a ‘yeah, he’s guilty.’ Juror 8 makes it his job to be the boy’s sole advocate in a room full of twelve men, although he knows that both the odds and his peers in the room are against him. He shows compassion [only the first from a long line of heroic qualities that Juror 8 embodies] for a stranger, one that definitely could have just murdered his father, and gives this boy a second chance at a trial with Juror 8 himself as the lawyer, and his prejudiced peers as the judges. Consequently, he stands up against men who constantly threaten him with physical violence and slurs, and most people cannot do that. In today’s society, we shun those who don’t go with the flow; millions of articles and magazines published every day feed on the reader’s insecurity of not being ‘mainstream’. If challenging this belief that ‘normal’ is good is difficult today, where we constantly have revolutionary movements like ‘Occupy Wall Street’ or ‘LGBTQ+ Pride’, it must have been nearly impossible in the era of conservativeness, prejudice, and racism that was the norm in the mid-twentieth century. This bravery is one of the most prominent aspects of heroism, and Juror 8 is truly one of the most courageous jurors in that facet. Additionally, Juror 8 believes that prejudice should not stand in the way of justice. One of the ways that Juror 8 removes credibility from the evidence that Juror 3 , or 10, or 4 constantly bring up is by revealing their prejudice. He tells Juror 3
“The Boat”, narrated by a Mid-western university professor, Alistar MacLeod, is a short story concerning a family and their different perspectives on freedom vs. tradition. The mother pushes the son to embrace more of a traditional lifestyle by taking over the fathers fishing business, while on the other hand the father pushes the son to live more autonomously in an unconstrained manner. “The Boat” focuses on the father and how his personality influences the son’s choice on how to live and how to make decisions that will ultimately affect his life. In Alistair MacLeod’s, “The Boat”, MacLeod suggest that although dreams and desires give people purpose, the nobility of accepting a life of discontentment out weighs the selfishness of following ones own true desires. In the story, the father is obligated to provide for his family as well as to continue the fishing tradition that was inherited from his own father. The mother emphasizes the boat and it’s significance when she consistently asked the father “ How did things go in the boat today” since tradition was paramount to the mother. H...
"The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop is saturated with vivid imagery and abundant description, which help the reader visualize the action. Bishop's use of imagery, narration, and tone allow the reader to visualize the fish and create a bond with him, a bond in which the reader has a great deal of admiration for the fish's plight. The mental pictures created are, in fact, so brilliant that the reader believes incident actually happened to a real person, thus building respect from the reader to the fish.
Fish’s methods of killing were, for all purposes, the perfect way to hide his crimes. No bodies meant no discovery, and the parents oftentimes would not suspect the sweet seeming, elderly Fish. However, Fish would strike one last time, through letters written to the parents of his victims. Fish would write terrible things, meant to strike fear into their hearts and to cut deeply into their emotion. Often he would write of how he killed and cannibalized these parent's children, of how he took pleasure in every moment of it, and of how in a way it was the parents fault that their children came to him. These letters would be the downfall of Fish, having written them on borrowed stationary from a person where he was staying, detectives traced the letters back to Fish, and arrested him on the
In the two passages, “A Short Narrative of My Life” by Samson Occom and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” written by Washington Irving, the main characters are both intrigued by controversial situations in their community: however, their consequences and reputations are greatly differentiated.
Twelve Angry Men, by Emmy Award winning author Reginald Rose, is a play set in the 19th century, where twelve single-minded and petulant jurors are placed in a crowded room on the hottest day of the year to adjudicate a nineteen year old boy guilty of murdering his father or innocent. These men must rise above various obstacles that obscure the truth, individually and as an entire group. In writing this play, Mr. Reginald Rose portrays a clear message- we must never be blinded by personal prejudice or racial bias. Jurors Eight, Three, and Ten can fully prove that.
Enmity towards one another often results in brutality and, conclusively, homicide. This issue is depicted several times in literature and in real life. The brutality in fiction and reality demonstrates that violence and bloodshed never culminate into virtuous outcomes. This recurring theme is prominent within the works of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, and To Kill a Mockingbird; it is even prevalent in real life circumstances, under the recent Charlottesville flash mob. These situations, fictitious or not, all contain violent acts that do not end in morally good results.
Hart, Richard E. "Steinbeck, Johnson, and the Master/Slave Relationship." Ethics, Literature, and Theory: An Introductory Reader. Ed. Stephen K. George. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005. 315-327. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 160. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
Oh Great Jinnee! “Aladdin” and “The Fisherman and the Jinnee” were both taken from the same story. That's why they are so similar.Both are taken from “A Thousand and One Nights”. They turn from being the same when the ginnie's come out. The one in Aladdin is very nice while the jinnee from The Fisherman and the Jinnee is dead set on killing the fisherman.There are many similarities in these two stories mainly because they came from the same folktale.
Determine all of the story's conflicts. Determine the major conflict and state this in terms of protagonist versus antagonist.
Within any written literature there is some kind of conflict and in the two short stories there is no shortage. In “Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard is in conflict with herself. In the second short story, “Hills like White Elephants”, Jig is not only in conflict with the American, and she is also in conflict with herself of what to do.
A thrilling short story, “William Wilson” (1839) is a chronicle narrator as he coexists with a “double”, a man with eerily similar features and contours as the narrator. It is revealed at the end of the story that the double is an actually a split personality of the narrator. The story, although short, explores the sudden and violent turn of events when the narrator confronts the doppelganger during the schizoid reality. The struggle of the narrator in “William Wilson” can be seen in the movie named “Fight Club” (1999); the movie contains plot development with striking resemblances to Poe’s literature.