As Donald Miller once said, “ Good stories must travel through conflict. And in epic stories, the conflict must become unbearable.” There are many stories around the world where the main idea has a conflict. Conflicts make stories very interesting, suspenseful, mysterious, and entertaining. Three stories which express conflicts extremely well but very differently are “The Purloined Letter”, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” These stories have very different plots but have one thing in common: the conflicts.
In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” by Edgar Allan Poe, the conflicts make the story suspenseful. The narrator cannot stand the pressure for lying about a murder, so his own conscience gets …show more content…
Henry, has many conflicts that enhance the story with sadness but also irony. Character vs. society is an important topic in “The Gift of the Magi.” Della does not have enough money to buy James a gift. She was very poor and she barely had enough money to pay for the apartment. [ “One-dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all.”(94).] In order to get the money, she had to cut off all her precious hair. The woman offered her $20 for her hair, and she immediately cut it off. [“‘Twenty dollars.’ said Madame, lifting the mass with a practiced hand.” (96-97)] During Christmas time in New York, many people were very poor. James earns very little money from his job, and paying for the apartment is definitely a burden for him. When they get home, James immediately stops in his tracks. He looks very sad, and Della asks why. James explains that he sold his precious watch to get Della two beautiful combs made out of turtle shells for her hair. When they found out, they smiled and jumped on the couch. Jim sat down and smiled. “‘Della,’ said he, ‘let’s put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while…. And now I think we should have our dinner.’”(100) The society was very bad back then because people were very poor, and it has affected almost everyone, including Della and James since they both had to sell things that they love. This conflict is resolved with mutual love because Della and James both love their gifts even though they do not have much use for