There Will Come Soft Rain Conflict Analysis

I vividly remembered on my elementary and high school years about my literature class. My teacher instructed us that story is considered a story if it is in prose form, has a character, and has a setting. That statement was greatly contradicted by the master lecturer Mr. Miguel Lizada. He remarked that the “conflict” makes a story. Although a story is written in prose form, but how about news reports, journals, and other scholarly works? A story is not accepted as a story if there is no character. In my mind maybe that the answer to the conflicting question, “What Makes a Story a Story?” but I’m so shocked because he argued that there are stories such as “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury that has no characters. I can’t believe even

I have been reading that story about a month ago. That’s true. There is no character in that story. I’m guessing again I’m sure that it’s the setting. Maybe that the answer to the conflicting question by the master lecturer. But my expectations killed by his counter statement. He proved to everyone like a theorem in a math class that there were stories that has no setting. Then after many deliberations, the answer to conflicting question is the conflict. I just thought “conflicting question” just a minute ago but I didn’t expect that conflict is the answer. I’m not convinced by his revelation. But since he is a lecturer, he made me followed like a sheep. He said that we need to distinguish the conflict to identify the protagonist and antagonist of the story. It can also determine the character who experiences the core conflict and who is given the “illumination or insight” that emerges accurately from the conflict.

In addition to that, conflict also effectively plot the direction of the story. It’s like killing two birds in one stone, Buy the conflict and consequently get the character and plot. I also learned that conflict, establish two forces against each other. Examples of conflict are: Man vs. Man, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Himself or Herself or combination of those conflicts. Conflict also shows the character’s motivation and you can tell their personal histories, their historical and social context and their principles in life or in colloquial language “hugot”. At the last period of the lecture, he gave us advice on how to effectively plot the story. First, we need to know the conflict since Literature 13 classes usually perform the Freytag’pyramid. Moreover, he has also given us tips on how to get the conflict easily such as determining the opposing forces, the result of that conflict leads to a specific illumination or theme and to pay attention on what the protagonists sing because the lyrics of the song reveal the protagonist’s conflict. I became more knowledgeable throughout the lecture and I’m looking forward to the future Master

classes.