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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In four pages this paper examines the types of conflict in this Willa Cather short story, such as the external conflict through the characters’ hypocritical judgments of Harvey Merrick and the internal conflict through the characters’ bitterness over Harvey’s success. Two sources are listed in the bibliography.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGsculptor.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and short story writer Willa Cather (1873-1947), "The essence of her art lies in its being at once accessible and deeply complex-unequivocal on the surface and ironic or ambiguous underneath"
(Arnold). According to Professor Arnold, "It is Cathers ability to fuse sophisticated technique with moving description, spiritual authenticity, and engaging story that has captured readers both inside and outside"
(Arnold). It is recommended that the student writing about this topic consider how Willa Cather emphasized the external and internal conflict in her 1905 short story entitled The Sculptors
Funeral through ambiguous comments the townspeople made about Harvey Merrick when they gathered to mourn the premature passing of the successful artist. The external conflict manifested itself through the
hypocritical value judgments of Harvey and the internal conflict was expressed through the characters personal bitterness regarding Harveys departure from the small town and the artistic success he enjoyed in
the East. When Henry Steavens accompanied the body of his teacher and mentor back home to its final resting place, he was immediately
struck by the collection of common folk hunched together in overcoats and focused on the man who "kept conspicuously apart" from them (Cather 68). It became readily apparent that
these local men were there more out of a sense of civic duty than out of any love for the deceased. When they assembled back at the Merrick family
homestead, the casket was ironically positioned "before a Rogers group of John Alden and Priscilla" (Cather 71). Despite the fact that their son was an accomplished sculptor, Martin and
Annie Merricks home was filled with cheap sculptural reproductions, which is an external symbol of the internal conflict Harvey experienced during his difficult boyhood, "silenced all his young life by
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