Lit 13 Paper

The central subject matter of the story “Master of the Fragfest” shows an element of reality that is paradoxically both believable and unbelievable at the same time. For some it may be reality. For others it may not. The narrator’s differences from his sister not only serve to move the story forward, it also highlights what seems to be the central theme of the story, that even siblings can have differing opinions and outlooks or that there can be struggles between them.

The major element that plays in this story is that of the plot, particularly the conflicts. There are two kinds of conflicts, namely external and internal. They are both present in the story. The main character was basically having problems with his sister. Having left his family at the age of 17, he spent most of his life alone. As a result, he didn’t know how to react to the arrival of his sister. He wasn’t used to taking care of anybody other than himself. This is one of the external conflicts.

The second is the noticeable difference of interests. The siblings were complete opposites. The brother was more of techno-geek. He loved video games and computers. He had friends but he wasn’t the type to socialize much. The sister, on the other hand, was the typical little girl. The brother made a list in the story. According to that list, Jenny, the sister, was into Powerpuff Girls, bad euro-pop, the color pink and other things the main character couldn’t really connect with. Though the narrator tried his best to take care of his sister, as seen in pages 81 until the end of the story, the differences only serve to drive them apart. What was important to one, was useless to the other.

The third external conflict is the generation gap that was present between the sister and the brother. First mentioned in page 80 paragraph 4 and continues on, the age gap serves to magnify the differences between brother and sister. One could even so far as to say that the narrator stops being a brother, and turns more into a father. This is further proven in page 81 paragraph 5 where he specifically says that he “had to raise a kid.” Another situation, which clearly shows the generation gap between brother and sister, was that which involved the cellphone. For the brother, cellphones weren’t that important. He didn’t even have one until college. As for Jenny, it was different. For her generation, having cellphones at a young age was a necessity.

The final external conflict, which is actually obvious but often overlooked, is the gender of both brother and sister. While not as influential as the difference of interests, or as noticeable as the generation gap, it is one of the reasons for their struggles. A male can’t understand a female as easily as another female can. A female also can’t understand a male as easily as another male can. While a woman may enjoy pink and the like, the male prefers to spend his time on different technological gadgets or sports.

As for the internal conflict, it has something to do with both the siblings’ incapacity to completely reach out to the other. There seems to be this barrier between them that can’t be completely dissolved. When they tried to get along, something always came up so they would end up getting into an argument. At the end of the story, the struggle became even more apparent. With the knowledge of Jenny leaving came the sense of loss the main character never felt before. During their confrontation, after Jenny apologized, an opportunity for them to completely set aside their differences came but they didn’t take it.

All in all, these conflicts served to highlight the underlying theme. Struggles may exist within a family and sometimes, though it’s not the most favorable circumstance, it may not be resolved.

Danielle Lim, Alex Cuaycong, Jake Maglaya