The conflict in the novel "The Shack" by Paul Young can be classified as man vs. Self. When the protagonist known as Mack goes camping, he partakes in a series of unfortunate events that leads to his daughter Missy, being kidnapped. It is later revealed the the kidnapper is known for heist just like this. The villainous acts commonly takes place in a remote setting and the victim is usually a little girl under the age of five. This specific molester leaves a small lady bug to place his mark on his territory. Each lady bug has an additional dot on its back for each child he or she has kidnapped.
Throughout the whole experience Mack has stayed tried his best to not let his emotions get the best of him. From the first instance he found Missy was missing, to the moment he found that she was abducted by a reputable criminal, Mack didn't let any of his emotions out. He made sure that he always thought out the possible choices and not rush into any decisions.
The main conflict in the novel can be considered to be Man vs. Self and not Man vs. Man is because Mack never confronts the culprit. He faces challenges with himself instead of the perpetrator to keep calm and make sure he does everything to his ability to find Missy. Just like the protagonist Okonkwo in the novel "Things Fall Apart" Mack did not show any sign of weakness when he was emotionally hurt. He refused to cry even at the worst of times which showed his family and more importantly Mack's wife, that they should be strong despite their recent misfortune.
Wow, thats a creepy story you got there. I like how you tied in the novel Things Fall Apart in your relation between Mack and Okonkwo. At first I thought it would be man vs. man, but what you mentioned made me realize that it was man vs. self. I find it amazing how calm and cool Mack is, even when his daughter has been abducted. Great post Kyle!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I already compared my post to the tv series Dexter, but your post reminds me of it as well!
ReplyDeleteIn the show, Dexter is a police agent but also must kill people due to an incident which happened when he was three. Dexter only kills people who murder other people and his father taught him how to kill without getting caught. Here the kidnapped leaves a ladybug with a number of spots equivalent to the number of children kidnapped. Dexter always covers a room with plastic to put his sedated victim in. He straps them to a table in the room and waits until they wake up. Dexter always wears an apron and shows his victim pictures of the people they have killed. He always adds a sample of the murderer's blood from their cheek to his collection. Then, Dexter kills them with a knife. I guess the details like these make the story a little scarier.
The episode that I watched had lots of man vs. self conflict because Dexter's wife had just been killed. He was suffering from an emotional loss, like Mack was suffering from the loss of his daughter.
My post explains the tv show Dexter throughly, if you do not understand it. I only stated the main points.
Wow!
ReplyDeleteYour INS is so creepy! Mack's calm and collected nature really contrasts his true feelings and his desire to find his daughter. Ultimately this allowed him to prevail (hopefully) and make the proper decisions and choices to reunite with his daughter