Chapter 1-4 Conflict

Vindhya P., Sana A., Kathryn C. and George P.

Through Thurber’s utilization of rhetorical devices, including simile, understatement, and diction, the smaller conflicts within the novel echo a larger conflict of family chaos and confusion; ultimately demonstrating the theme that chaos is at the essence of every family, but unique to each. Furthermore, each family’s unique experiences of chaos make for great memories and can even end up bringing a family closer together.

Thesis

The Night the Bed Fell

Conflict: James Thurber’s cot tipped over, and each family member has a different interpretation of what is occurring, adding on to the conflict.

➔ Thurber’s mother is who essentially initiates the conflict. “ The racket, however, instantly awakened my mother, in the next room, who came to the immediate conclusion that her worst dread was realized: the big wooden bed upstairs had fallen on father.” (P.7)

The Night the Bed FellRhetorical Devices:

➙ Diction◆ “I suppose the high-water mark of my youth...was the

night the bed fell” (17).Word choice portrays that the events of that night can be looked at optimistically and lightly, in a humorous manner.

The Night the Bed Fell

Understatement: ● First, Thurber says, “When these sides are up, it is perilous to roll

too far toward the edge, for then the cot is likely to tip completely over, bringing the whole bed on top of one, with a tremendous banging crash.” (5)

● Later, Thurber uses an understatement, describing what it felt like when the cot tipped onto him:

➔ “It left me still warmly bundled up and unhurt, for the bed rested above me like a canopy” (7).

The Night the Bed Fell

● Word choice demonstrates that the conflicts of that night were nothing serious.

● Thurber makes the situation seem less serious by understating the level of comfort he felt when the cot fell on him.

*In general, smaller conflicts echo a larger conflict of the chaos happening within the household. Overarching conflict of family chaos is conveyed as a part of every family, and can be looked back at in an optimistic, light way.

The Night the Bed Fell● The conflict in this chapter was heightened by a ripple effect.

Simile:➔ “The situation was finally put together like a gigantic jigsaw

puzzle.” (P.10) ● Each person’s interpretation of what was happening

the night before represents each puzzle piece. ● Thurber concludes the chapter by acknowledging that

the puzzle is put together and now, they can just look back at this moment and be able to laugh about it.

The Car We Had To Push

Conflict: Small conflicts between old Reo and Thurber family, echo the larger conflict of family chaos. “Our poor old Reo came to a horrible end, finally” (16).“but we went through a number of things in Columbus that were a great deal like earthquakes” (11).● gives the reader an idea of how chaotic these events truly

were.“one of my happiest memories of it was when…” (15).● Looks back at them as great memories of his childhood with

his family.

The Car We Had To Push

● Understatement when he calls the destruction of the car, “..A splendid spectacle…” (16). Demonstrating the optimism he has within the chaotic conflicts that took place with the old Reo.

● Simile: “The steering wheel rose up like a spectre and disappeared in the direction of Franklin Avenue..” (16). The conflict of the car breaking is strengthened by this simile. The steering wheel flew out of the car. Thurber makes this situation humourous by comparing the car to a ghost!

The Car We Had to Push

● Hyperbole: “It picked up the tired old automobile as a terrier might seize a rabbit and drubbed it unmercilessly” (16). The car was wrecked completely as it was thrown. Demonstrates the destructive nature of this incident.

The Day the Dam BrokeConflict: Civilians of Columbus, Ohio think the dam broke.“ The frightful and perilous afternoon in 1913 when the dam broke, or, to be more exact, when everybody in town thought the dam broke” (21)● There was a ripple effect for the conflict in this chapter. One

person started running and soon everyone thought that the dam had broken

The Day the Dam Broke● “Another man, a portly gentleman of affairs, broke into a

trot….everybody from the Union Depot to the Courthouse was running. A large mumble gradually crystallized into the dread word, dam.”

Rhetorical Devices:➔ Diction:

● “And yet neither the hardship we endured nor the turmoil or confusion we experienced can alter my feelings to my native state and city..” (21).

The Day the Dam BrokeRhetorical Devices:➔ Diction:

● Word choice portrays that regardless of the chaos within the conflict occurring, he is able to look back at the event as a great memory.

➔ Understatement:● “ A visitor in an airplane looking down….would have

been hard put to it to a divine reason or the phenomenon..” (pg 27)

The Day the Dam Broke (cont…)➔ Understatement:

● Understating the situation because something that was terrifying in the moment was actually quite funny to him.

➔ Simile: ● “We were all as safe as kittens under a cookstove..” (pg 22)● Adds a sense of optimism and humor even though everyone

imagined the worst, they were safe from danger.➔ Hyperbole:➔ “ I should say that seven hundred people passed us” (pg 29)➔ Thurber obviously cannot be counting every single person that

passed him and seven hundred seems to be a large exaggeration

The Night the Ghost Got In

Conflict: “The ghost that got into our house...raised such a hullabaloo of misunderstanding” (50).

● Ghost/burglar in Thurber household.● Grandfather thinks the policemen are deserters from Meade’s

army.

The Night the Ghost Got InRhetorical Devices: ➢ “‘Nothing,’ he said, gruffly, but he was in color, a light green”

(52).*hyperbole

➢ “‘We had ghosts’” (58). *diction/syntax

➢ “He gazed at me for a long time as if I were a slot machine into which he had, without results, dropped a nickel” (58).

*simile

The Night the Ghost Got In (cont…)

➢ “‘What was the matter with that one policeman?’ mother asked… ‘Grandfather shot him,’ I said…‘Of all things! He was such a nice-looking man’” (21).

*understatement

● Mother is not be concerned at all, although, in reality, a shooting is a big deal.

● Portrays that even extreme chaos within families is ordinary.

The Night the Ghost Got In (cont…)➢ “Grandfather was fresh as a daisy and full of jokes at breakfast

next morning” (58).*simile

Work Cited:

Thurber, James. My Life and Hard Times. New York: Perennial Classics, 1999. Print.

Thank You!