Trial By Combat Compare And Contrast

In “Trial by Combat” and “Summer Ball”, both of the characters have discussions where a lot of the things they want to say goes unsaid. Because of this, their unexpressed viewpoints create and influence the tension in their conversations. In both stories they have viewpoints that are unspoken, but in “Trial by Combat” the author develops the tension by what’s not being said but doesn’t tell us exactly what it is, and in “Summer Ball” it's more direct on what’s not being said. Even though they both have these key differences, it still creates a type of tension that the reader can sense within the character’s conversations.

In “Trial by Combat '', the author is indirect about the unexpressed viewpoints throughout the story. For example, the

For example, the narrator states, “There was a lot more Danny wanted to tell his dad, to make him understand, wanted to tell him about Coach Powers saying he should switch sports, that maybe soccer would be better for him. But he was afraid it would come out sounding like one more lame excuse for faking the injury.” This quote tells us that Danny wanted to tell his dad that Coach Powers told him to quit. This is the topic that he wanted to say but went unsaid. But, unlike in “Trial by Combat”, the story tells us exactly what went unsaid and there is no mystery. By not telling his father, it causes his dad to not know the reasoning to his actions and to continue to be disappointed in Danny; this creates a strange atmosphere and energy between him and his father on the phone which is the tension of the viewpoint not being said. But that isn’t the only unspoken viewpoint in the story. The story also stated, “He pumped some change into the phone, called the number at Tess’s uncle’s house. He was going to tell her about the conversation with his dad, but when she came on, telling him in this happy excited voice about a fish she’d caught that afternoon, he decided against it.” This is also an unspoken idea that has no mystery to it. It also begins to develop tension because it causes Danny to act not like himself on the call with Tess which is the tension. For