The central conflicts in my novel, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, are man vs. himself and man vs. man. The main character, Dave’s parents just died a few months apart from each other and now he has to deal with his emotions of the loss. I believe this sort of conflict cannot be resolved because the only way to truly resolve this problem would be to bring Dave’s parents back to life. Since that is impossible Dave remains with the internal sorrow of this unfortunate predicament throughout the story. At the same time that conflict is happening, another is brought up which is man vs. man. Dave has a little brother named Toph who is too young to take care of himself so Dave takes initiative and begins to take care of him on his own. I have only read up to the part where Dave just begins to take Toph into his own hands so I don’t know what will happen for sure yet. I can only guess there will be some struggles along the way Dave will experience. I can imagine how difficult it’s going to be for Dave to maintain a normal life style such as getting a job, going back to school and keeping up with bills along with raising his eight-year-old brother Toph.
This conflict somewhat reminds me of the novel/movie The Outsiders. They both relate to the idea of brotherhood and each of the novels characters have lost their parents. In The Outsiders there are three brothers and the eldest, of course, struggles with keeping his younger siblings safe and out of trouble similar to how Dave has to make sure Toph grows up to be a respectable young man.
This novel has such a sad storyline. Dave has so much on his plate yet seems to stay strong. It will be very inspirational to read about how he overcomes such struggles. Your comparison with The Outsiders is very spot on as I can also see many similarities. They both have to overcome such unfortunate circumstances and on top of that, have other things to worry about such as taking care of their younger siblings. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYour post reminded me of my novel, "Lord of the Flies". Dave begins to take care of his brother, like the older boys that are stranded on the island take care of the younger ones. In "Lord of the Flies" a plane crashes on a remote island and a group of English school boys must fight for survival. The older boys (aged 12-13) take initiative as well and become leaders. Ralph, the protagonist, seems to care about the younger boys. He likes to keep track of them and provides shelter, food and a fire for his group. However, as the novel progresses, many of the younger boys die. At the end of the novel, nearly all the boys, even the young ones, participate in clawing and biting Simon to death. The attitude and nature of the stranded students change drastically.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what will happen to Dave in your book. I wonder if he will succeed in raising his younger brother, despite the emotional pain he is going through.
Hi Angela, your novel sounds quite heartbreaking but I love novels like that. Dave sounds like he is a very strong person. Despite losing his parents he now has to take care of his little brother which I think will make him even stronger. I agree that this novel and The Outsiders have the same sort of conflicts. Both are filled with pain, sorrow and struggles to overcome. I really enjoyed reading your post. :)
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