Conflicts in the Man to Send Rain Clouds (Essay Sample)

Conflicts in the man to send rain clouds
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Conflicts in the man to send rain clouds
The short story the man to send rain clouds, written by Leslie Marmon in 1969 is full of varying conflicts. Conflicts within this story can be categorized as man verses man, man verses self and man verses nature. Man verses man conflicts are depicted when two or more characters in the story have different views over a particular matter. Man verses self conflict refers to when a particular character has to make a decision but cannot bring himself to a conclusive decision because of the inner fight convincing him otherwise. Man verses nature conflicts can be attributed to the fact that human beings may sometimes not want to come to terms with the reality that nature presents and thus try to fight it. These conflicts may be internal or external where internal conflict would be man verses self and external would be man verses man and man verses nature (Leslie 648).
The main conflict as seen in this short story arises due to cultural differences. These are portrayed in the form of religious and traditional differences. When the old man is found dead, the Christian and Indian religions are put to test concerning treatment of the dead. Traditions on the other hand conflict as to what the old mans family prefer to what the priest thinks the right way of doing matters is (Leslie 647).
Leon and Ken find the old man Teofilo dead in the sheep camp and after herding the sheep back home, they come back with a truck to fetch the dead body and prepare it for burial. Leon uses a string to tie a gray feather in the old mans white hair while Ken paints the old mans face. Finally before they lay the body in the back of the pickup, Ken throws pollen and pinches of corn meal into the wind. All these are traditional Indian practices believed to give the dead safe passage into heaven (Leslie 647)
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These traditions are in contrast to the priest who believes that the dead should have their last rites respected and that a funeral mass should be observed. This the priest makes clear when Leone pays him a visit at the church in the hope of getting the priest to take the Holy water to the graveyard. The priest refuses to offer the holy water to be sprinkled on the grave without a proper funeral mass. On seeing that he won’t convince the priest, Leone decides to walk out the door. But before he leaves the priest decides to accompany him after all. The conversation between Leon and the priest gives us a clear insight into the man verses man contrast point of view. The priest as a character helps us understand the man verses self contrast. After Leon proposes about the holy water, the priest undergoes an inner fight whether to accept or deny (Leslie 648).
Louise on the other hand also undergoes through an emotional fight when she suggests to Leone about the priest sprinkling the holy water on her grandpa. It is evident that she has come to this conclusion only after the traditional Indian funeral ceremony was over, considering that the old men had taken their medicine bags and candles and left. Leon also has to decide whether to go to the priest to ask for the holy water. These two characters conflict in religion as Leon finally goes for the holy water (Leslie 648).
After finding Teofilo dead unde...