Conflict

Conflict can be triggered through internal or external tensions. It can be embedded within us subconsciously, stemming from negative personal experiences, or through the influence of other people’s actions. These influences on conflict are demonstrated through out the poems “children” by Nancy Keesing, “Aboriginal Australia” by Jack Davies and throughout my chosen text “The catcher in the Rye”, written by JD Salinger.

In Nancy Keesing’s poem Children, visual and tactile images of internal and external conflict are portrayed through her use of poetic techniques. The poem depicts the emotional connection between a mother and her children, in contrast to the power imbalance experienced by children living in a war torn country. “Whirling gasping tossed disjointed, I watching, fear they may be broken.” This, like in the first stanza, represents a mother’s maternal instinct for the safety of her children playing in the unpredictable ocean. The use of first person, and the dynamic active past and present tense verbs provides the responder with the internal emotions of a mothers concern, and the physical, but harmless conflict her children are experiencing. “Caught at random, tossed, exploded. Torn, disjointed, like sticks broken.” The repetition of “tossed” and “disjointed” in the second stanza represent a juxtaposing image of another world, where the conflict embedded is physical and life destroying. This is shown in my visual representation image 1 by the obscure and distorted body. The words “torn” and “exploded” draw genuine empathy from the responder, to the power imbalance and physical harm children are experiencing elsewhere. There is a physical power imbalance experienced by both the children in the ocean, and the vulnerability to physical harm delivered by physical conflict.
The idea of power imbalance and internal conflict stemming from the actions of others is explored in Jack Davis’ poem “Aboriginal Australia.”

Aboriginal Australia demonstrates the...