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Rising Conflicts As For Me And My House And The Fire Dwellers

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Rising Conflicts in As For Me and My House and The Fire-Dwellers In any piece of literature, elements such as the use of plot, climax, and character development are needed in order to maintain a reader’s attention and curiosity. Another element that typically sparks a reader’s interest is the rising of conflict between characters, as this allows readers to empathize with the characters throughout their journeys. The idea of a continuing conflict between characters is a recurring theme throughout the novels, As For Me and My House, by Sinclair Ross, and The Fire-Dwellers, by Margaret Laurence. In each novel, there are hopeless and despondent wives, Mrs. Bentley and Stacey MacAindra, who have distant and unaffectionate husbands, …show more content…

Mrs. Bentley is passionate about playing the piano and has always dreamt of becoming a famous musician. However, she puts more time and effort into being with Philip, and in turn, her music career comes to a halt. This example is understood as Mrs. Bentley expresses her joy for music and declares, “The only thing that really mattered for [her] was the piano… All [she] wanted was [the] opportunity to work and develop [herself]… But he came along and the piano took second place” (Ross 20). Not only did piano take second place, but also, “instead of [practicing] in [her] spare time it was books now… For right from the beginning [she] knew that with Philip it was the only way” (Ross 20). Through the use of this example, it is clear that Mrs. Bentley forfeits something she values in order to please Philip – contributing to the notion of her role being to serve and to make him happy. Similarly to Mrs. Bentley, Stacey MacAindra is married, and has been for sixteen years to a man named is Clifford “Mac” MacAindra. Though Stacey does play an important role as a wife, her main concern, unlike that of Mrs. Bentley, is not to serve her husband. Rather, Stacey’s main role is to find herself during her midlife crisis and to cope with this issue as it negatively affects the relationship with her family and herself. Stacey was once a beautiful, young woman; unfortunately, with the crisis consuming her, she feels old, unattractive, and unwanted – ultimately

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