instances of conflicts related to death and how the story portrays their significance
Conflicts
Conflicts occur as a result of various emotional effects related to various life events in an individual’s life. These feelings lead to either external or internal conflicts, thus affecting the psychology of the victims involved. Some of the events contributing to these conflicts include death, as explored in the story (Laurence). The main protagonist Vanessa undergoes internal and external emotional moments questioning her beliefs and situation after the death of her father. Commonly, death causes emotional upsets because of the pain caused, thus adapting becomes a tough moment (Morley 19-26). The paragraphs indicate some of the instances of conflicts related to death and how the story portrays their significance.
Inner conflicts portrayed by Vanessa form part of her present and history, where she has memories voicing her present condition, thus contributing to her mental struggles. The story includes Vanessa’s perception as a young and mature lady, thus indicating her struggles as she cannot relate to historical meanings to her present situation. Still, Vanessa fails to understand the essence of self-realization by allowing people into her life; thus, she isolates herself. This aspect indicates that she prefers solving her problems alone and wants discretion when healing from painful moments. In a psychological context, her method of fixing problems can either be advantageous and disadvantageous. Thus, this concept can lead to the insight that can affect one’s emotional state through mental incitement (Morley, 19-26). However, Vanessa prefers isolation as a way of recovery from the death of her parents. Still, Vanessa does not consider that in isolation, her history marks part of her self-discovery; thus, she ignores her past. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Next, Vanessa found herself in conflict with cultural beliefs associated with Scottish communities, where she refutes the concerns regarding recovery from grief. These struggles occur as a result of Vanessa’s grandmother’s concept regarding recovery from painful events. However, the slogans highlighted by her grandmother fail to help her through her emotional instability. Next, Vanessa does not know whether or not to go against the community norms as a result of invalidated freedom. The past experiences give Vanessa a negative impression on the social concepts of morals related to her childhood teachings.
Additionally, the concept of God’s will form a foundation to objecting her community’s beliefs. These events, therefore, indicate the psychological dilemma as a result of painful moments in Vanessa’s life since these occurrences make her question the order practiced in the community. Eventually, emotional pain makes individuals revise their ideological affiliation towards life. In this case, the dilemma results in self-evaluation on what works best and logic projection towards life, as portrayed by Vanessa’s approach to life.
Another conflict occurs as a result of religious perceptions, where Vanessa disregards the religious teachings after the death of her father. In brief, the position of a parent in influencing a child’s perception indicates discord as a result of miscommunication. Therefore, Vanessa admits to the change resulting from her dad’s death, but still, she faces the sufferings by staying with her grandmother. This instance explores Vanessa and Ewen’s wish to evade and find a solution to their present predicaments. The challenge in this scenario forms the basis of subconscious guilt trough self-blame, thus confronts Noreen furiously for her remark on her interpretation of a bird’s presence in a house. Interestingly, both Vanessa and Ewen approach the situation differently (Stovel 169-194). The conflict arises as Vanessa reacts with rage while Edwin handles the situation by accepting the death and looking forward to moving on.
After the death of her father, Vanessa’s pain makes her refute the existence of Hell as Noreen tries to comfort describing heaven as a destination. The conflict arises from Ewen’s efforts to explain the concepts of hell and heaven about cultural perceptions. Grief acts as a factor under which ideologies because of the confusion resulting from the death. In this case, the confusion occurs as a result of the Christian and Calvinist upbringing of the two personalities. (Swamy 154-160). Another type of conflict occurred when Vanessa associated freedom using a picture and her father’s perception. Despite the teachings and shared beliefs, Vanessa did not agree on the issue relating to life after death. As a result, both Ewen and Vanessa conform to guilt and struggles related to religious conformity. This idea is evident resulting from a letter, and a photo addressed to her dad by a French lady. Thus, this moment makes her recognize narrations of her father’s war experience. The noted differences form a highlight from the instance where he tries to act while Ewen gives in to the current situation. In these instances, the characters undergo religious conflicts related to death, where they are not sure which belief marks significant reasoning associated with their feelings towards losing a loved one.
Through the narrations, there was a consideration at indicating order as dictated by Vanessa’s grandparents. Order formed the basis for any decision making for Vanessa after the death of her parents. Through retrospection, Vanessa indicated that everyone had a misplaced belonging since the current situation did not favor the expectations of characters occupying the house. These events formed some of the conflicts to the expectation of what her parents wanted against her wish. At the time of her father’s death, all her beliefs and order in the family diminished as she was unaware of the possibilities and impossibilities. These events erupted from internal conflicts regarding her late father’s teachings about life. As a result, Vanessa distinguishes herself from societal perspectives related to Christianity and ancestors. As a result, she failed to relate to the cause of her grandfather’s death because of confusion related to beliefs. The conflict, in this case, results from the basis or the reason behind death since there are many ideas regarding the causes of death.
In conclusion, some of the instances of conflicts relating to death and grief concerning cultural and regions perception regarding the afterlife. Consequently, the characters involved act as a result of pain related to grief in handling loss. Some of the instances discussed include Conflicts regarding Noreen’s consolation, the concept of life after death, and freedom. Other instances included the death of Vanessa’s grandfather as she failed to give an exact explanation of the actual cause of death. Thus, Vanessa found courage in tackling life in her way without conforming to either Christianity or cultural knowledge. These decisions contrasted with what her father taught her and the order instated as guidelines for the family.