Montana 1948 Conflict Quotes

Conflict

Main internal conflict: The wife of a deceased pilot, Kathryn Lyons, discovered her husband had died in a plane crash. She struggled to accept that he was gone and as the novel proceeded, Kathryn had an even bigger conflict; Kathryn found out her husband had been living a double life. This caused her to question how well she knew him. In the beginning of the novel, she began to find little pieces to the puzzle: “It was Jack’s handwriting….Puzzled, she leaned against the wall. What poem was this and what did it mean? She wondered. Why had Jack written it down?” (42) Later on in the book, she had found a note: “Muire 3:30, it read. Who was Muire? Kathryn wondered.” (71) As the book went on, Kathryn had been informed that her husband

The author refers back to Ely, New Hampshire at certain times in the novel: “She drove down the center of Ely, the light just beginning to flood storefronts now,” (80). Later on in the book, Kathryn travels to London, United Kingdom and the quote that supports this is: “She looked at her watch: 8:14 p.m. in the evening. It would be 1:14 a.m. in London. The plane lumbered to the runaway.” (202) The novel also takes place in the late nineteen nineties, considering the author mentions computers: “He’s leaving her and taking the computer with him?” (106) The affair between Muire and Kathryn’s husband occurred in “June 1991” (218) which was “Four and a half years ago.” (214) This indicates the novel is set in either nineteen ninety-five or nineteen ninety-six. The mood of this story is tense, melancholy, and mournful as proved by this quotation: “Odd, she thought, how intensely you knew a person, or thought you did, when you were in love-soaked, drenched in love- only to discover later that perhaps you didn’t know that person quite as well as you had imagined. Or weren’t quite as well known as you had hoped to be.”

“The warmth of him always, even on the coldest of nights, as though his inner furnace burned extravagantly. The images pushed and jostled and competed rudely with each other for space. She tried to stop them, but she couldn’t.” (16) This quotation reveals the author displays emotions of affection and tenderness. As the main character finds out more about her deceased husband’s past, the author’s tone grows more cynical; the character grieves even more as details are released. It sets a mood where the reader believes that the situation/conflict will not improve and as if all hope is lost. Although both tones are a strange combination, the author is still quite emotional, yet critical at all times: “The pictures would stay with her, he had warned, the images would not leave.” (40) This quote is an example proving the author’s