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The Dead Man's Pockets, The Leap, And The Sniper

Decent Essays

In the stories “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pockets,” “The Leap,” and “The Sniper,” the authors include many different literary elements that make up the story, such as conflict, setting, theme, etc. However, many similarities can be drawn between these literary elements.
A similarity that all these stories have is that they all have external conflicts that lead to internal conflicts. In “The Dead Man’s Pockets,” the main character, Tom is on a ledge to get back a paper for his career. Obviously, this is an external conflict. But, this is creating an internal conflict because it shows he’s too devoted to his job. On page 31, the narrator says, “He thought of all the evenings he had spent away from her, working; and he regretted them.” He’s been so focused on his job that he’s been neglecting his wife. This is an internal conflict that must do with Tom’s time management, but was brought to light by Tom going on the ledge which is an external conflict. In “The Leap,” when lightning strikes the metal pole and messes up the trapeze act, the mother is forced to decide between saving herself and her baby, or her husband. On page 41, the narrator says “...she could have grasped his ankle…and gone down clutching him…Instead, she changes direction...my mother was not seriously harmed.” The external conflict is when lightning strikes the main pole in the trapeze act, which leads to the internal conflict of the mother having to choose between her husband or herself and her baby. In

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