Your blog post for this week concerns your independent novel study. Please identify and describe the central conflict, or conflicts, in your novel. Who, or what, is involved? How is it resolved (if you've gotten that far)? Does it remind you of a conflict from another work of literature, movie, television, or your own life?
The central conflict in my novel, The Lovely Bones, concerns the main character Susie Salmon and her surroundings on Earth. There are actually many conflicts in this book: father vs. mother, brother vs. mother, sister vs. sister and many more. The small conflicts gather to create one big conflict of how the Salmon family must deal the hardships of losing a loved one. Some examples of the smaller conflicts would include how Susie's younger brother Buckley starts to hate his own mother after she walks out on the family. Even Susie's mother is dealing with a conflict of her own at the time as she has troubles accepting her daughter's death. Her decision to leave the house is made from the desperate desire to escape the realm of memories that trigger depression in her. Another would be Lindsey, Susie's sister, having to deal with the community and everyone around her that sees her not as "Lindsey" but as the "sister of the girl who was murdered". Although on the exterior, the main conflict seems to be the family vs. Murderer and how Mr.Harvey will be caught, the real conflict lies elsewhere.
While there are man vs. man conflicts present in this book, the true conflict should be categorized as man vs self because the story really involves the idea of how each person connected with Susie has to deal with the grief. After some research, I found that there are five stages of grief:
- Shock and denial
- Anger
- Bargaining (asking for a deal with God or the Doctor)
ex: "I'll be a really good person from now on so please bring my loved one back"
- Depression
- Acceptance
Thus, the conflict is resolved when the family and friends of Susie reach the stage of "acceptance". They are able to accept that Susie is dead and cannot come back but is probably watching over them. They still feel some sadness but are not traumatized over it and are able to "get over it".
I'm sure that this process of grief is something everyone can relate to in one way or another. We all must experience losing loved ones in life and understand that it is important to accept the loss. This is a really sensitive topic that many might not be comfortable with.
Personally, the first "death" that I have dealt with is the loss of my great-aunt. I fondly remember her as she played with me in my childhood every time I visited Japan. She withered away as she caught a branch of Alzheimer's disease, forgetting everyone she loved and loved her back. Sometimes I ponder that maybe I never went through that grief cycle with her or that I quickly accepted her death as I did not go through those four other stages. (Or I'm still in the denial stage)
All in all, I wish for her to rest in peace and everyone a long happy life.
Thanks for reading!
Your research on the five stages of grief really helps support your example and makes it a very strong one. Grief is something everybody has to face at some point in their life, making your example is very relatable. Based on your summary of the novel, I can see your example has a direct connection to the characters in the story. They face an internal conflict, but at the same time the conflict within themselves does affect those around them. Are there any other examples of grief, besides death, that also connect to the characters in your novel?
ReplyDeleteGreat Job Mio :)
Mio, this is a really well-written post. I really like how you went out of your way to research the five stages of grief. For me, the first loved one I lost was my grandfather. I was very young at the time, so looking at the five stages of grief that you have provided now, I don't think I went through them all either. Actually, I don't even think I went through any of those stages at the time because I couldn't really wrap my head around the idea that I would never see my grandfather again; I couldn't fully understand what exactly was going on. However as I got older, I now remember going through a few of those stages. I remember asking my mom if it was something I had done to make grandpa leave. I also remember being in denial, thinking my parents were playing a humorless joke on me. But as time dread on, I realized I had to face the hard truth. My father was a mess and so were my aunt and uncle. It was a hard time and I feel like I can really relate to the characters in your book because the members of my family acted like them as well. My grandmother became known as the "woman who lost her husband", and I remember my dad took every chance he got to leave the house to let his true emotions escape.
ReplyDeleteOverall, awesome work Mio! :)
Hey Mio,
ReplyDeleteI admit it takes great courage to accept the death of a loved one. The reason for those stages is because many humans may think that if they did accept the fact that their loved one is dead, it would be then that the person is really dead. But through personal experience I have learned that that is not the case; if the ones who loved that person carry on their memory, then the person can live in the hearts of those people. I know that sounds cliche, but, trust me, it's true. Anyway, the final stage of acceptance does take much struggling to finally reach. However, accepted or not, the person remains dead.
Anyway, great job, Mio!