Exploration of Conflict in Romeo and Juliet and Heroes?

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Throughout the novels ‘Heroes’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the theme of conflict is directly conveyed to the audience in different forms. Both texts explore attitudes towards love which is linked to their different contextual backgrounds. Both novels communicate that the only outcome from conflict is pain and torment. The novel ‘Heroes’ is based upon the character Francis Joseph Cassavant, an old war veteran from Frenchtown, Monument. Francis is the first person narrator that tells his story through his eyes to the reader. Francis returns to Frenchtown from serving the Second World War in France and immediately describes his physical injuries from serving the war, he has ‘no face’. He emphasises his horrific appearance by using grotesque wording and fine detail. After Francis presents his appearance he mentions that he is carrying a gun and has a mission to murder his childhood hero, Larry Lasalle. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ on the other hand pivots around two young lovers that have disagreeing families, the Captulets and the Montagues. However, the death of the star-crossed lovers leads to the families reuniting. Cormier’s ‘Heroes’ probes a time of war in America where veterans felt a need to hide and disguise their injuries and suffering caused by the war. Alternatively, Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ investigates a system of society that is male dominated. This opposes the time period of ‘Heroes’. Additionally, ’Romeo and Juliet’ is written upon Elizabethan England. The conflict is often shown in both novels by colour symbolism. Similarly, light and dark is used throughout the novels. In ‘Heroes’ light is connoted as pure and innocent. Nicole is often linked to white clothing, such as her ‘white blouse’. This can be contrasted with ‘Rome...

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...ed to promote a negative atmosphere and symbolises negative feelings, whereas light is used repeatedly to provide a positive feeling of love, with white being used as a constant symbol of innocence and peace. The gender roles in both books are the opposite to what they should have been, with male characters taking a backseat in their relationships and allowing the female characters to be more dominant and headstrong. War is used as a catalyst to a lot of the events in both books, leading to the rape of Nicole and the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Though both texts are similar, some of these similarities show key differences between the writers. As inner conflict is used as a representation of context from both texts, and how the writer feels about conflict resolution, with Cormier being against Violence, while Shakespeare believed it could bring an end to a conflict.

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