Conflict In 'Popular Mechanics' By Raymond Carver

Normally, a house with young children is usually a vibrant and loud setting with the expectation of a mother who is without a break in order to tend to their every need. However, this mother’s world appears to be at a standstill or even perhaps at a breaking point as described in this section: “Sometimes there were things to watch-- the pinched armor of a vanished cricket, a floating maple leaf,” (8-10). She is most likely searching for ways to see her way out of her current situation or to fantasize a world where she can be at peace. She tries to focus on the simplicities of life such as the “floating maple leaf” (8). This mostly due to her hopes that life would slow down for a moment and so she could find some peace as well. She hopes for a world where there is only her and no responsibility, so she attempts to separate herself from reality but inevitably struggles to do so. The reader is therefore within two worlds that the mother is seeing, her ideal and reality. The reader soon learns that both those worlds are blurred, and the mother has an incredibly difficult time separating the two. The “vanished cricket” (7) she saw may be a representation of herself describing her own lost opportunity of wishing that she could vanish or even turn back the clock to a better and less stressful time in her life. Her struggle for some peace of mind is like an unreachable dream with all her hopes relinquished

Conflict is one of the most essential literary devices. Conflict happens when a character experiences some type of fight or dispute. Conflict can be internal or external, and generally makes for a more interesting story and a much more enjoyable experience for the reader.

When was the last time you and your significant other fought? In Popular Mechanics by  Raymond Carver, the story is about a husband (or boyfriend) who is leaving for an unknown reason, he demands to take the baby with him, but the wife (or girlfriend) will not let him. Undoubtedly, the parent's rage and lack of communication leads to the death of their son. Raymond Carver presents symbolism throughout the short story to indicate something awful is going to happen.

Conflict is very important to a story it makes it interesting, some stories have one conflict some have more than one. A great example of multiple conflicts in a story is in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell man versus man is the most relevant conflict. Man versus nature is the first conflict seen in the story. Man versus himself is a conflict between Rainsford, the story's protagonist, and himself throughout the short story. In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, there is man versus man, man versus nature and man versus himself.

A conflict is a serious disagreement or argument about something important. Most stories are based around conflict. There are two types of conflict: internal and external. Internal conflict is a character versus him or herself. External conflict is a character versus anything outside him or herself. The purpose of conflict is to keep the plot moving forward. In the book Eragon, the main character faces lots of internal and external conflict. Types of conflict the main character faces are person versus self, person versus person, person versus nature, and person versus allies.

Conflict can be described as the struggle between two opposing forces, whether the forces being person vs person, person vs self or person vs society. Good examples of conflict can be found in almost any book. Margaret Atwood’s novel, the Handmaid’s Tale is a source of all three types of conflicts. The Handmaid’s Tale is about a society where females are given specific duties and are restricted from reading, writing, talking to others and looking at themselves in mirrors. The protagonist, Offred whom is also the narrator in the novel faces conflicts with herself, with other people, and the society that she lives in. Offred’s conflict with the commander’s wife Serena Joy only escalates throughout the book, as the two did not like each other

Conflict is a literary device used for expressing a resistance the protagonist of the story finds in achieving his aims and dreams. The conflict is fairly easy to recognize, Marcus’s decision to either sell out his best friend or take the blame and risk his chances of getting out of the projets. Not only that, but about everything in this book leads to conflict. Towards the end of the book, Eddie starts to distance himself from Marcus, believing that he’s actually the guilty one due based on what his parents were telling him. For example, Eddie’s mother states that “it’s where Marcus lives... it’s the projects. There is crime all around him. It was probably too big of a temptation” (Volponi 2005 53). I spent the whole morning at school dodging questions about Marcus... They were asking me about Marcus like I was his brother. (Volponi 2005 55). Similarly, Marcus’s mother begins to turn Marcus against Eddie and his parents. For example, Marcus’ mother states “It’s Black and White until somebody’s ass is on the line. And when it’s time to go to jail, it’s just Black” (Volponi 2005

Suspense, the state of tension, anxiety, and uncertainty, like waiting for an outcome that comes very slow. Authors usually create suspense by using story elements. In the story “The Monkeys Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, he uses story elements such as foreshadowing, conflict, and surprise ending.

A conflict may be defined as a disagreement resulting from an individual or groups of individuals due to a difference in attitude, beliefs, values or needs with unwillingness to conform. Conflicts may be interpersonal, intrapersonal, intergroup or intragroup conflicts. Interpersonal conflicts arise between two individuals, this type of conflict is due to the different personality types of individual and personalities tend to be incompatible because we are different from one another. Intrapersonal conflicts occur within an individual being that this type of conflict occurs in the person’s mind and therefore it is psychological. Intergroup conflicts occur when there is a misunderstanding among different teams in the same organization. These individuals may have differing goals and interests and each individual now begins to compete with each other to express their ideas which then lead to a conflict. Intragroup conflicts occur among individual within the same team. Conflicts will arise when individual compete for power or authority and most importantly, resources which are limited.

Helen Keller once said "...although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." This quotation means that in life, you come to find yourself in many struggles, but there is always a sense of accomplishment over such problems. The reason I agree with this quote is because such triumph can only be accomplished after the fact of the occurrence of a struggle. The realistic fiction book, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a perfect example of my interpretation of the quote. The author uses conflict, figurative language and characterization to show that this quote is true.

As humans, we each face conflict in our everyday lives. Conflict is basically anything that happens that a person may disagree with, or not be happy with. Conflict could be something as little as losing your pencil, or something as horrible as the holocaust. For example, Anne Frank was forced into hiding at the age of 13. There was nothing that she could do about it, so she kept her thoughts on the positive side by writing in her diary once or twice a month, and hoping for the best. She hoped and prayed that she and her family wouldn’t be found, and that the war would end soon; that’s what kept her going. Hoping for the better and having a positive outlook on her situation really helped her through that horrible time. In the story “Night,” Ellie is 13 years old when he gets taken away Auschwitz. His situation is horrible, but having a positive attitude towards that situation made his situation, at the time, not be as horrible as it could be. Even though he didn’t know what was going on, he looked on the positive side, and told himself that things would get better, and he wouldn’t be there forever. These are both good reasons that having a positive view on conflict will make your situation not as bad, especially in the time of war.

When the argument shifts its setting by moving from the bedroom to the kitchen, Carver’s use of symbolism adds intensity to the story. Too busy with their selfishness, “In the scuffle they knocked down a flowerpot that hung behind the stove” (329). Neither parent stopped to see the broken pot, nor did any of them break focus on their fight with the child. The kitchen is usually a place where a family comes together, but here they were breaking apart at the seams.

Essentially, cultural encounters are interactions “among two or groups of people who in the use different social custom. And culturally competent treatment involves sensitivity to culture, race, social class, religion and gender. Cultural encounter declares to people the difference between wearing traditional clothing” and fashion address, also, shows the modern life style with the old social customs. At the following thesis in “The Distant Past” by William Trevor show extremely cultural encounter between the two Religious categories as Protestant and Catholics, Urban and rural, the older generation and new generation. Here there is some information about all these conflicts. " (Mozart v. Hawkins (2012).

In her poem “Borderlands,” Gloria Anzaldua strategically exposes readers to the true form of the Borderlands region as she conveys the internal incongruity that is rife with this state. As she characterizes the nature of the Borderlands, extending the idea of the Borderlands from a geographical region to an extensive social phenomenon, Anzaldua emulates an experience that is shared by many; conquered by fear.

In the stories “Popular Mechanics”, written by Raymond Carver, and “Hills Like White Elephants”, written by Ernest Hemingway, show the struggles that sometimes happens while being in a relationship. In “Popular Mechanics” Carver shows the struggle of being cheated on and the fight between the couple over their baby. The baby becomes more of an item when they fight trying to show who is a better person and parent. In “Hills Like White Elephants” Hemingway shows that not everyone wants to have a baby and that it can change your life drastically. The couples in “Popular Mechanics” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are arguing over a baby, are splitting up, and the stories have settings that represent what is happening.