Question

In 3–5 complete sentences, thoroughly explain the conflict in your Module One short story. Identify the conflict as internal or external and classify it as man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. self, or man vs. society. Provide at least two specific details from the text to describe the conflict.

Answer 1

According to a different source, the story that this question refers to is "Condensed Milk" by Varlam Shalamov.

In this story, we learn about the experiences of a man who has been imprisoned in a gulag, a Soviet labour camp. The story emphasizes the struggles of the people in the gulag, but also the difficulties they faced when it came to remaining humane, or even positive. There are two conflicts that can be identified in the story. First, man vs. society. This is because the imprisoned men experience a conflict against the gulag, an institution created by their society which attempts to destroy their humanity ("Everyone looked out for himself here").

The other conflict is that of man vs. self, as all the men struggled in an attempt to hold unto their humanity and their hopes for the future ("I can’t live like this any longer. “Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.”"). Therefore, the story presents both an external and an internal conflict.