Correspondingly, within each short story, the reader sees the conflict as being between a younger and a much older, more influential character. The older character is ‘negatively’ affecting the younger character. This is seen in “It Used to Be Green Once” when the narrator states “We were all ashamed of our mother. Our mother always did things to shame us” (Grace “It Used to Be Green Once” 2). This conflict is between a young child and his mother. The child, along with his siblings, were ashamed of their mother and how she ‘advertised’ their family’s poorness: “We…hoped Mr. Hadley wouldn’t notice the car with our mother in it, and her yelling and tooting…Oh the shame” (Grace 5). Due to their mother’s attitude towards the family’s financial situation,

Richler, Mordecai. “Bambinger”. Elements of English 12. Ed. Sue Harper et al. Toronto:

Furthermore, events that occurred within each short story greatly contributed to the character vs. character conflict. In “It Used to Be Green Once”, the children were ashamed of completing small tasks and favours for their mother: “We had asked the bus driver to stop and give way to Mum because she had no brakes. We were all ashamed” (Grace 4). The children were embarrassed with how their mother acted in public: “As soon as she’d left the store she’d begin hooting again, to let the whole district know she was on her way…we always hid if we heard her coming” (Grace 4). On the other hand, in “Bambinger”, the young boy was affected by what Bambinger told his parents would be ‘best’ for him: “Staying up late, according to Bambinger, would also stunt my growth. As did evenings spent at the Park Bowling Academy” (Richler 47). Bambinger seemed to almost enjoy this ‘power’ that he had over the young boy: “Bambinger smiled mockingly at me, waiting” (Grace 48). Thus it is clear that the events within each story greatly impact the character vs. character conflict.

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