On the Sidewalk Bleeding.

Evan Hunter.

What are the four kinds of literary conflict?

Man vs. Nature: Struggle with a force of nature.

Man vs. Society: Struggle with the laws or beliefs of a group.

Man vs. Self: Struggle deciding what to think or do. There is often a moral dilemma, or a question of conscience. Man vs. Man: Struggle with another character.

Conflict in ‘On the Sidewalk Bleeding.’

Man v man:

• Andy was stabbed by another person.

• He [Andy] had been stabbed ten minutes ago. The knife had entered just below his rib cage and had been drawn across his body violently, tearing a wide gap in his • flesh.” Gang conflict (Royals v Guardians) “That was a fierce rumble. They got me good that time”

Man v nature:

Nature and the environment are against Andy. There are constant references to the rain and the dark. “the rain was beating a steady relentless tattoo on the cans.” Perhaps if it had been day, and more people were around, Andy could have survived. But instead he is dying in a dark, isolated alleyway that has already been the setting for gang conflict.

Conflict.

•

Man v. himself.

• • • • • This is the most important type of conflict.

At first, Andy is in denial “I can’t be dying,” but he is kidding himself. Andy wonders if he has made the right decisions in his young life. “ And he wondered suddenly if the Guardians who had ambushed him and knifed him had ever once realized he was Andy.” There is a conflict over whether to keep his gang identity with the Royals or whether or not to be himself, Andy. In the Royals, he has a title and a jacket, but he is just another faceless gang member.

There is also the important question of identity: a group identity or an individual identity? Andy has to make this choice.

Questions on Conflict.

1. What effect does Andy’s jacket have on the people who find him in the alleyway?

2. What are the reasons why these people don’t help Andy?

3. What role does the jacket play in the short story, and what name could we give to the jacket?

Extension and homework: point of view.

• •

We only get the story from Andy’s POV. Write a ¾ to 1 page conclusion to this short story that begins after the statement:

• •

“She did not stop running until she found a cop.” Write this continuation from either Laura’s point of view or the police officer’s POV.

Remember that Laura and the police officer do not know what Andy’s personal experience has been. Imagine what they would see, hear, think, and feel.