In A Monster Calls, there are two main conflicts, one is the fact that his mother is very sick and fragile, possibly pointing at having cancer, The other conflict is the "monster" that comes to Conor's house every night at 12:07, that comes with the occasional nightmares. At the point of where I currently am in the book, the conflicts were not clarified when they started, but Conor is 13 years old and is very mature, his mother's illness probably isn't new, since he is already experienced and able to take care of himself, without the help of his weary mother. His mother's sickness is a problem because he fears her death, and is very precious to Conor, it would affect him and his family deeply. Plus, if she were to pass, he would have to move to America with his dad, or stay with his grandmother, who Conor isn't really fond of. The existence of the monster tree, and the nightmares is a problem because in the past, fragments and pieces of the monster have ended up in the room, which probably means it can physically hurt and touch him, and is not a dream, this can also affect Conor and his mental state, as he currently is confused with his life at this point. Conor usually tries to ignore the dreams, but they always cause him to scream or abruptly end, and doesn't fully fear the monster. Conor reacts to his ill mother by doing everything in the house allowing her to rest. Conor also constantly worries for his mother, and wants to believe that she is okay. The conflict of the dreams are internal because he keeps what happen in the dreams, and the occasional arrival of the monster tree, to himself. Evidence of this is actually demonstrated on the first page, page 1,"He told no one about the nightmare. Not his mum, obviously, but no one else either, not his dad in their fortnightly (or so) phone call, definitely not his grandma, and no one at school. Absolutely not. What happened in the nightmare was something no one else needed to know." This shows that he doesn't want to worry anyone, and would not want to talk about it to anyone, which shows that it is in his mind and internal. The conflict of his ill mother is both internal and external. A piece of evidence of the claim is found on page 21, " 'They were making fun of Conor's mother!' This made everyone freeze again, and the burning sun in Conor's stomach grew hotter, ready to eat him alive." This proves that part of the conflict is internal and external, because the fact that his mother is sick, was spread throughout the school, getting Conor to get frequently bullied and teased, or make looks, even if it's pity, which is external if it is physical. This also proves that it is internal because Conor hates the fact that everyone knows about his mom, something that is personal in his life, no one should know except his family, he wanted to keep it to himself. As I am currently not finished with the book, the conflict with the monster hasn't been fully resolved, as we still don't know the full purpose of it's arrival. The conflict of his mother's sickness hasn't been resolved yet as she is currently in the hospital getting treated.
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In the novel, A Monster Calls, the main male character is a boy named Conor. He is the son of a mother who appears to have cancer, and prefers to keep this information to himself. Conor usually every night has a dream about a monster. The monster is a yew tree that Conor has in for yard, that will occasionally walk to Conor. The monster's role is to tell Conor three stories, and in some way help him, he also tries to act tough, but I believe that it cares for Conor. There is also his mom, who is very fragile and sick, who cares very deeply for Conor. Conor's grandmother also visits, her personality is very "modern", and likes to keep things clean and organized, but can also be a bit stingy. Conor is very mature and responsible for his age, an example of this is when he does plenty of chores around the house even without someone telling him to do so. Such as washing the dishes, or throwing out the trash, he does all this so that his weary mother wouldn't have to do so. Conor can also sometimes be oblivious, such as when he was being bullied, a girl stood up for Conor, and pushed one of the bullies back, a teacher saw when the girl pushed the bully and got her in trouble. She tried to prove her innocence by asking Conor that he was being bullied, which he clearly was, but Conor just said that it was her fault. I am currently at page 104, half way of the book, and Conor has shown for his character to be very static. An example of this is on page 9, "Then the monster paused again. You really aren't afraid, are you? 'No,' Conor said. 'Not of you, anyway.' " Conor is saying that he isn't frightening. Another example on how he isn't changing is that according to the text on page 50, " 'You're just a tree,' Conor said, and there was no other way he could think about it." These two example quotes demonstrate how Conor is unafraid of the monster through a span of 50 pages, he thinks the monster is still just a average tree, which proves he hasn't changed.
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