The Clumsy One Conflict

Thus, the narrator’s father dealt with the same struggle that the narrator and Sonny are facing now. The narrator wants to protect his brother from the darkness of the world that has always threatened to invade their lives but he fails to do so as he is torn by his emotions, which shift quickly from love to hate and he is also unable to express his emotions, feelings and concern towards Sonny.

Still, through this, the mother sees the children, especially her own son, as fairly innocuous, only posturing as men, but still calm, like "a room full of small bankers". They may be men, she seems to say, but they are gentlemen, and harmless at that. The macho posturing becomes more tangible and tense when one older boy says to a younger one "I could beat you up". This statement puts the reader and the speaker on guard, aware that a change is taking place. One can almost see the mother perk up her ears.

In the fiction novel, Tangerine, by Edward Bloor describes the importance of friendship, fear, and bravery. The main character Paul Fisher moves with his family to Tangerine and he finds himself growing as a person. His older brother, Erik, is a riffian, but no one sees him as the psycho that Paul perceives. Paul befriends cool kids from his new school, Tangerine Middle School. They respect him and he realizes that he is not a nerd anymore, but a soccer player and a friend. He was always scared of Erik and what he might do. However, when Luis, a tangerine farmer, that is also his friends’ brother, dies, he starts to realize he is stronger than he really is and starts to stand up for himself, just like Luis did to Erik. In the novel Tangerine, Edward bloor uses

Danny and Reuven’s relationship was a link between father and son, but this grew into something more, something life-long and unchanging. This friendship was true, it meant a lot to both of them, and their parents. However, after large disagreements in both Danny and Reuven’s religious lives and families, Reb Saunders excommunicates Reuven from the Hasidic community and Danny’s life.

Familial relationships can change from good to bad remarkably easily, because of our personal investment in them. Think about any relationship between child and parent, it can flicker between fighting and laughing ten times a day! The novel demonstrates an extreme version of this, where ‘fighting’ has become the father’s abuse, and ‘laughing’ has become the safety the brothers feel in each other’s company. One example of this is near the end of the book, on the boat with Harry, Miles, and their dad. ‘Dad had Harry by the shoulders and he shook him like a rag doll. He dragged him out onto the deck. “These are protected waters, you idiot! You always fuck everything up. You always fuck everything!”’ The simile ‘shook him like a

Priding himself on his uninterested nature, Dwayne takes upon the role of a “loner”. When asked by his uncle about his peer group, Dwayne simply replies that he hates everyone, including his own family. This act of rebellion is a direct response to his family’s dysfunctional tendencies including his stepfather’s crude remarks that are intended to motivate others. As part of his social self, he prefers to remain alone and unbothered.

He had heard it before. He loved his brother but had learned to ignore his occasional “do as I say, not as I do” tirades. Tony, by contrast, was desperately trying to give his little brother information he thought he needed, the kind of information that Tony never got. Tony felt his brother’s life could be saved, even if he felt his own had already, at age fourteen, passed the point of no return.’ Tony was hopeful that his brother would grow up to become successful, however his outlook changed one day when he found out that Wes was selling.

Parenting played a big role in shaping the two boys lives. Having a parental mentor is important because they assist and guide children to take the right decisions about their lives. The author had his two parents at the beginning of his life. Also, the author’s parents, especially his mother, tried to raise him in an effective way wanting him to know the right from wrong at an early age. “No mommy loves you, like I love you, she just wants you to do the right thing” (Moore 11). This quote was a live example of the author’s life with his parents. It reflected the different ways his parents used to teach him “the right thing.” Though his mother was upset from his action toward his sister, his father

He feared his brother would slay him. Fortunately, the opposite happened. When the brothers met, they embraced each other. I think that both brothers instantaneously figured out that they should look out for each other. This happens in today’s world.

Conflict was used effectively in the short story to reveal the theme of the story. The boy has an internal conflict about which parent to stay with, and because his father left, he seemed to have favored him. He wanted him back so badly that every night, he watches him on the six o’clock news while wearing his old jackets. He was blinded by his father’s sudden departure that he forgot about what is really important. Additionally, another development in the short story’s conflict has been used effectively to reveal the theme. When the boy went to Macdonald’s to see his father’s true colors, he thought: “I finished my drink quickly, thankful that he had to be back in the studio for the news.” By the time he saw his dad for the first time in a while, he knew he was not the man he thought he was. At that moment, he also realized that he lost sight of what he had all this time: His mother’s unconditional love. If it wasn’t for the characterization of

 Upon arriving at his house he quickly learns the ropes of his father’s way of handling things. Tre’ was not there for five minutes and his father had him raking up the leaves in the front yard. Later on that night his father fills him in on the other rules of the house. This showed me that there was a good discipline in the house. That type of discipline helped Tre’ out in the long run and changed his life for the better.

Homer applied, got the job and was a coal miner. For weeks all he did was get up at the crack of dawn and not come home until late at night. For once, Homer’s father was proud of Homer, and showing it. Homer’s mother, Elsie Hickam, had shown she believed in Homer, but until Homer got a chance to go to the science fair, she did not show it. She stayed out of Homer and his dad’s fights, which is almost as bad as following John blindly. But, when Homer needed her most, she was there, fought John and had John help Homer. “Homer once said you loved the mine more than your own family. I stood up for you because I didnt want to believe it. Homer has gotten a lot of help from the people in this town. They’ve helped him build his rockets. They’ve watched him fly ’em. But not you. You never showed up, not even once.” Now, Homer’s brother, Jim Hickam, on the other hand had still followed their dad but he was closer to helping and believing in Homer than their dad was. Homer’s brother had told everyone about the rocket launch and told them all to come and see it without Homer’s consent or knowledge of everyone showing up. Originally, Jim wanted to embarrass Homer in front of everyone, but it backfired and worked well for Homer in the end. Although Family doesn’t show it much, they still do love you, they may disagree with your beliefs, and your dreams, but they should still help and support you, even if they do not have the money to help.

The narrator was writhing in the misery of the burden of brotherly love. The narrator’s mother, via tasking him with looking after Sonny, asked him to serve as his sibling’s keeper and protector. The narrator was riddled with grief throughout his life right from the burden of brotherly love that was placed upon his shoulder, to the dilapidated living conditions he and Sonny had to endure while shaking up in the projects, to the imprisonment of his younger brother and the death of his own daughter-

how much of a man he was. After he hit his father, he felt a sense of pride as if he won a prize of some sort. The act was more selfish than selfless being that he was not thanked for it. After the incident, he looks at his sisters for validation for his actions but he has never seen the difference between them or separate the roles of them from their mother. His misogynistic views are passed down from his father and this is due to his immaturity and lack of exposure to the independent world.

Since the story is about two brothers who are very different from one another, this helps set the tone of the story.