Inner Struggles

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Similarly, in “The Daughter,” Brkic conveys Sasa’s inner struggle about her feelings and thoughts toward her father’s involvement in the horrible events going on in the war through symbolism. In the story, Saša spends most of her time in the science lab “[holding] some of the animals in her hands as they died” (134). When questioned why she did this, her response was simply “Remorse” (134). Her holding these animals shows she was a caring person, but also that although the war victims aren’t her doing she feels she needs to do something. The lab animals she holds represent herself. White rabbits and mice are looked at as fragile, shy, and innocent creatures. This helps emphasize she doesn’t know what’s going on in the war, and that the man sending the letters is targeting the wrong person when he should be going after her father. Saša wasn’t sure what to do so she laid newspapers out to make sure her father would see, when this didn’t cause any response she demanded an answer from him if he had been involved and known what was going on. When no answer was received she left angry and distraught, locking herself up in her apartment avoiding the outside world in hopes it would all go away. The public looked at her as a military official’s daughter rather than a college girl with normal dreams and aspirations. Even in a class, Saša received A’s on everything no matter how poor it was. This is because of her instructor’s fear toward her father. Her father’s actions not only caused her to become a target but also inhibited her from being able to actually go through college or make friends without her father’s influence of fear playing apart in the outcome. As a result, Saša began to feel alone even though the war wasn’t any of her doing. Darkness follows Saša, a feeling she can’t escape as “she learned to live with that little patch of darkness yawning outside her threshold” (134). She felt that everyone was watching her, that they blamed her for what was going on and is the same type of person as her dad. The last note she received from the man demanded “justice” (136). These letters she receives from the man symbolizes the public and their response to these war tragedies caused by her father. They demand “justice” but with them targeting Saša, it makes them no better than her murderous father. Saša takes her life in hopes to relieve herself from the “darkness” which follows her. Even now, Saša can see the death and destruction that her father has caused even though “her father was nowhere to be found, but his work was everywhere” (137). She takes her life because of a deep remorse she feels for the victims of the war. Although Saša wasn’t in a war directly, the effects of one made its way through a man’s letters to her door step leading to her decision to end her life to be set free.

In this story, Saša feels shameful because of what her father has done and how she is being treated by everyone. In the article, “Feeling Bad: The Different Colors Of Remorse,” Julia claims “Shame is conceptualized as an egocentric response to wrong-doing. It involves a pervasive sense that the offender is bad, rather than the narrower notion that the offender has done something bad. Persons dealing with shame feel there is little hope” (127). In the story “The Daughter” Saša has a feeling of shame brought on by her father’s wrong-acts; so, she begins to feel she has failed in some way and loses all hope resorting to death.

Although these three stories are based around war, all three still are completely different from each other yet they still share a common theme- through the struggles of war, the effects of war create inner conflicts within people. The authors use symbolism to give a deeper meaning to the stories and to help clearly convey their theme to the readers. In “The Things They Carried” Cross is faced with a life changing decision in order to overcome his obstacle of desire. This is quite similar to Lejla in “The Jasmine Shade” having to decide to remain hopeful in order to be able to accomplish regaining her life. All three stories show how lives are affected and even ruined by the effects of war no matter how distant. In “The Daughter,” it is clearly understood how war can be destructive to one’s life even when not directly immersed in it just as Saša decides to end her life hoping for relief. The main character in a story may not always be around the effects of war or in one, but they are usually faced with an inner struggle which they must overcome in order to accomplish their objectives and desires. Even through the physical struggles these characters had to endure their inner struggles, which far outweighed in comparison, shaping who they would become.

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Works Cited

Brkic, Courtney Angela. “In the Jasmine Shade.” Stillness. New York: Picador. 2003. 3-22. Print.

Brkic, Courtney Angela. “The Daughter” Stillness. New York: Picador. 2003. 127-137. Print.

Julia P. Grimm, et al. "Feeling Bad: The Different Colors Of Remorse." Journal Of Psychology & Christianity 30.1 (2011): 51-69. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 May 2013.

O’Brien, Tim. “The Things They Carried.” Literature Craft & Voice. By Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2012. 427-437. Print.

Wells, Linda. "The Things They Carried: Character, Narrative, And The Liberal Arts." Journal Of Education 182.2 (2000): 45. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Apr. 2013.

Wurmser, Léon. "Metaphor As Conflict, Conflict As Metaphor." Psychoanalytic Inquiry 31.2 2011: 107-125. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.