Conflict in The Child By Tiger

Conflict in "The Child By Tiger"

“The Child by Tiger” is narrated by a man who is remembering an event

from his childhood. The story centers on Dick Prosser, who is a black hired hand

for Mr. Shepperton. Dick is involved in several levels of conflict throughout

the story.* These include intrapersonal conflicts, a conflict with society, and

conflict with his environment.

The first conflict is very important in the scheme of the story, because

it provides the necessary conditions for this kind of an event to take place.

This is Dick's conflict with his environment. Although he is a free man, and

seems to be very tolerant, Dick lives in a time and place where most people are

less than friendly to black men, and do not see him as an equal. This becomes

evident when the auto collision occurs, and the drunk man proceeds to assault

Dick without cause, and without fear of retaliation. This is because he knows

that a black man is powerless in the society of the time.

Society brings us to the second conflict, which is Prosser's conflict

with society. One night, without warning, he begins a killing spree which spans

the better part of a day, and spawns a fatal manhunt. His conflict with the

society in general is characterized by his indiscriminate choice of victims.

These victims range from a police officer to an innocent black man looking out

his window, to several citizens who try to put an end to his madness. This

conflict is stopped when the mob...