Ernest Hemingway's short story is not merely based entirely on the internal conflict of Schatz but also the entire plot of the story is dwindling around this conflict. The story displays the compassionate parental love between the father and son. The internal conflict that surrounds the structure of the story lies in the heart of the protagonist Schatz diseased with flu. Schatz gradually develops a belief that he is going to die and starts living by it. This belief has grabbed him so badly that he struggles throughout the story to conquer this conflict but seems impotent to handle his internal clash. He gives up to this thought and convinces himself to wait for his death. The narrator through the story wishes to portray the power of our mind (in Freudian terms 'the power of the subconscious mind').
