Short Story Essay Example: the Interlopers
Shelby Strong
Ms. Caston-Smith
Pre-AP English 9 – 5th period
2 October 2012
Conflict in Literature and in Reality Over the course of time mankind has inhabited the earth, conflict has been constant. War and dispute play a large part in the development of human life. Fictional characters are a reflection of the ideas of human lives, so conflict is a key feature for works of literature. In Saki’s short story, “The Interlopers,” two men have been raised to loathe one another through a long time family feud. Their journeys bring them face-to-face and present a number of different conflicts. The beginning of the story portrays man against man conflict, but as the story progresses and changes, the conflict also changes. In “The Interlopers,” Saki immediately presents man against man conflict. Ulrich Von Gradwitz is hunting in his forest when he comes across his enemy, George Znaeym. As the two men stare each other, “each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart, and murder uppermost in his mind” (Saki 190), the man against man conflict is evident in the hate the two men feel toward each other. The two men confronting each other is a challenge, but not the only one the two men encounter. Man against nature, the second of three types of conflict Saki presents, changes the events in the story, making the challenges the two men face harder to overcome. Ulrich Von Gradwitz and George Znaeym stand face to face, their hatred boiling. Before either one could take action into their own hands, “a deed of nature’s own violence overwhelmed them both” (Saki 190). A tree falls and pins them to the ground, demonstrating the usage of man against nature conflict. Because this type of conflict is incorporated into the story, the actions take a sharp turn. Now the two enemies are forced together because of nature. Saki’s introduction of a third type of conflict, man versus self, turns the story line again in a different direction. Because they are
Ms. Caston-Smith
Pre-AP English 9 – 5th period
2 October 2012
Conflict in Literature and in Reality Over the course of time mankind has inhabited the earth, conflict has been constant. War and dispute play a large part in the development of human life. Fictional characters are a reflection of the ideas of human lives, so conflict is a key feature for works of literature. In Saki’s short story, “The Interlopers,” two men have been raised to loathe one another through a long time family feud. Their journeys bring them face-to-face and present a number of different conflicts. The beginning of the story portrays man against man conflict, but as the story progresses and changes, the conflict also changes. In “The Interlopers,” Saki immediately presents man against man conflict. Ulrich Von Gradwitz is hunting in his forest when he comes across his enemy, George Znaeym. As the two men stare each other, “each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart, and murder uppermost in his mind” (Saki 190), the man against man conflict is evident in the hate the two men feel toward each other. The two men confronting each other is a challenge, but not the only one the two men encounter. Man against nature, the second of three types of conflict Saki presents, changes the events in the story, making the challenges the two men face harder to overcome. Ulrich Von Gradwitz and George Znaeym stand face to face, their hatred boiling. Before either one could take action into their own hands, “a deed of nature’s own violence overwhelmed them both” (Saki 190). A tree falls and pins them to the ground, demonstrating the usage of man against nature conflict. Because this type of conflict is incorporated into the story, the actions take a sharp turn. Now the two enemies are forced together because of nature. Saki’s introduction of a third type of conflict, man versus self, turns the story line again in a different direction. Because they are