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Family In Hell-Heaven

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Family In Hell-Heaven
How would you feel if your family was destroyed? I without any doubt would be incapable of imagining my life in such a way. Family is something that is so precise and valuable to me. Which is why, it should never be taken for granted. The two short stories differ on how the families’ destruction come to be, yet both exterior sources cause the family to be broken. My objective is to compare and contrast the representation of family in Hell-Heaven by Jhumpa Lahiri and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates by using the two following literary techniques, conflict and foreshadowing.
In the short stories Hell-Heaven and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, conflict is use as a literary technique. Both authors of the
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In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Arnold Friend is in love with Connie and wishes for her to come with him. He does this by using physical and psychological manipulation on her: “‘You come out here nice like a lady and give me your hand, and nobody else gets hurt, I mean, your nice old bald-headed daddy and mummy and your sister in her high heels. Because listen: why bring them in this?’” (60). Arnold intensify this threat by saying “‘this place you are now-inside your daddy’s house – is nothing but a cardboard box I can knock down any time. You know that and always did know it. You hear me?’” (61). Connie acknowledges the burden of his threat and knows he will hurt her family, if she does not obey to go with him. Connie surrenders to Arnold because of the love she has for her family. Both short stories show an external source as the reason behind the families being broken. The difference between the two short stories is the way the characters react towards the external source. In Hell-Heaven, the family does not start off as broken. It is only when Pranah falls in love with Deborah and willingly decides to distance himself from his “adoptive family”, which causes a break up in the family. Whereas, in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, the family starts off as broken. Connie later realizes how much she values and loves her family. She shows to what extent she is willing to go, in order to keep them safe. Even though it means putting her own self in

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