The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, Ray Bradbury
How does the main character relate to the internal conflict?
The internal conflict is that Joby doesn't feel ready to fight, because he feels young, so he lays there and thinks about the battle and the soldiers, but he's afraid to fight, I think, because the general tells him about death in war Joby is afraid because he knows too much about what really happens. I think Joby would be better off not knowing as much as he does, and living in ignorance, because only then would he be able to go and fight, but knowing what will most likely happen, he won't fight, and this causes the conflict. Like when the general tells him that men actually die in war. This affects Joby because it makes him have an epiphany about life, and spontaneous death in war.
Joby isn't the conflict, but the conflict is in him because he created it by deciding he was afraid to fight. He could've told himself he wasn't afraid, went, and fought, but he didn't, he created the conflict and told himself he was afraid. Joby doesn't fix his own conflict, but has others fix it for him (in this case, the general) and in this the internal conflict is resolved.
The main character relates to the internal conflict like they are brothers, in which they're very similar, and they complete each other even if it might not change the other for the better. The internal conflict is part of Joby, the part of him that shows fear, it's his brain saying "no" and Joby's conflict is how to get around this.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Reading Response 9/18/12
How does the main character relate to the internal conflict?
The main character, James, is creating the internal conflict inside of himself by overcomplicating things between him and Sammy. Both James and Sammy partially want to learn more about their dad but neither of them are willing to go as far as they may need to go to actually learn something about him. I think the whole search really is pointless and is destroying their relationship, they have to work much much harder than they're willing to if they want to accomplish anything, they're really just trying a little bit, but unless they try a whole lot harder they'll never really learn anything. So far all they've learned is that they can't work together and I think that if they actually applied themselves to their conflict, maybe it would actually resolve, but because they're both so stubborn and they're so unalike. I really do think they should just stop, because all of the people that they've talked to about their father just tells them how horrible he is, and the more they learn, I think the more they want to stop, but they've come far enough that they don't want to stop, because they could keep searching and find everything they ever wanted to know, maybe more. I really think they can't possibly figure anything more out because they're just going to talk to more people who have horrible stories about their father. James is the conflict as he causes it to grow and develop as he pushes it to progress into his life where he the main character is the problem, and Sammy and Robin and others are little problems that just revolve around the main problem, James.
The main character, James, is creating the internal conflict inside of himself by overcomplicating things between him and Sammy. Both James and Sammy partially want to learn more about their dad but neither of them are willing to go as far as they may need to go to actually learn something about him. I think the whole search really is pointless and is destroying their relationship, they have to work much much harder than they're willing to if they want to accomplish anything, they're really just trying a little bit, but unless they try a whole lot harder they'll never really learn anything. So far all they've learned is that they can't work together and I think that if they actually applied themselves to their conflict, maybe it would actually resolve, but because they're both so stubborn and they're so unalike. I really do think they should just stop, because all of the people that they've talked to about their father just tells them how horrible he is, and the more they learn, I think the more they want to stop, but they've come far enough that they don't want to stop, because they could keep searching and find everything they ever wanted to know, maybe more. I really think they can't possibly figure anything more out because they're just going to talk to more people who have horrible stories about their father. James is the conflict as he causes it to grow and develop as he pushes it to progress into his life where he the main character is the problem, and Sammy and Robin and others are little problems that just revolve around the main problem, James.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Summer Reading Response
Over the summer I read Night Work by Thomas Glavinic. One of the main features was symbolism. Everything Jonas does throughout the story can be looked at in a different way and using that you can really go deeper into everything he does, and thinks. The most important one was a pebble in the last scene. He's standing on a cliff and he kicks a pebble off, and he knows he'll never be able to find Maria and he should just give up, and I think that the pebble he kicked off symbolized his old life. He threw it away and it fell down the cliff and yes, he could've gone back and looked for it but no matter how long he searched he would never be able to find the pebble, similarly to how he lost his old life as he searched for Maria, and he knows he can never get his old life, one, because everyone is dead (including Maria) and two, he destroyed everything he has to search for her. I wish he hadn't wasted his life searching for her because he could've attempted to enjoy himself with all the free stuff he could ever want but initially he was trapped. He could drive wherever but other than that he felt that everything was futile, and I still believe he could've done more than to kick his life and the pebble off the cliff. I think the only right decision he made was stepping off the cliff after the pebble, knowing he had nothing to live for.
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