release

Release

Conflict (internal)
The internal conflict in the story is between Eileen`s desire to complain to the neighbours and her natural habit to ignore the situation. The evidence of her neglect is on pg 144 where she “tried as hard as possible not to notice anything about her neighbours”. However the constant build-up of disturbances from her neighbours has force her to take actions like on pg 145 when she decided to call the SPCA.

Conflict (external)
One of the external conflicts in the story is between Eileen and her husband, Philip. Eileen was unhappy with how Philip always stood up for the neighbours and not for Eileen. Philip had always tried ignored the atrocities committed by the new neighbours and end up letting them get away with things. Also, the fact that Philip cares more about his work to be bothered with Eileen`s complaints has also infuriated her. (pg 140-142)

Climax
I think the climax of the story is when Eileen finally decides to call for help from the SPCA and the police. This is the part of the story where things can become unpredictable. It allows the reader to wonder what will happen next as there are endless possibilities as to whether the Eileen will finally get what she wants or if the neighbours will continue to provoke the hostile relationship between them. (pg 145)

Resolution
The resolution of this story is rather open ended. The story ends when the man murders the puppies and Eileen starts panicking. It allows the reader to guess what kind of outcome will occur. It also allows the reader to ponder about why the things happened the way they did and what kind of issues are shown in the story. (pg 148)

Characters
Eileen: Social\welcoming (went to visit her new neighbours the day they moved in pg 139)
: Easily agitated (upset about the guava tree even though it was not hers pg 141)
: Good at mothering (takes care of her baby no matter what pg 143-144)

Philip: Easy-going (he always gives in to his neighbour’s pg 141-142)
: Workaholic (focuses more on his work than on Eileen`s complaints pg 143)
: Gullible (easily convinced by simple blueprints pg 142-143)

Neighbours: Impolite (compared Eileen’s pregnancy with their dogs pg 140)
: Impulsive (they cut down the tree without asking permission pg 141)
: They must have things their way (pg 141)

I think the most interesting segment of the story is when the supposedly kind and gentle man killed the puppies; it was much unexpected because the man seemed very nice and he offered to help Eileen. He was also very gentle with the baby so that had pretty much wiped out any possibility of violence in him. When the man murdered the puppies however, it prompted me to think that there was definitely something sinister about him.