Event Analysis
The event I attended this week was the
Zen Meditation class. During this class, I found myself thinking about dealing
with conflicts, which relates to theme of Shane
by Jack Schaefer. Since this was not my first time attending meditation, the
routine was familiar for me, but somewhat still new. Ever since I have been
doing the meditation, it has been an eye opening experience for me. My
meditation and understanding of Shane
have taught me that sometimes we need to change the way I handle issues, and
that I will always need to deal with the consequences of how I choose to act.
Shane by Jack
Schaefer deals with the conflict between Shane and Joe, and Fletcher, Chris,
and Wilson. Fletcher is desperate to buy Joe’s farmland, so he sends his men to
instigate fights with Joe and Shane. The first incident occurs when Shane runs
into Chris in town. Chris tries to initiate an argument with Shane by telling
him that his and Joe’s farm smells like pigs and teasing him about how farmers
only drink soda. Shane manages to stay calm and avoid a fight, but the story
spreads around town, and everyone begins to mock Shane and Joe.
Up until this point, Shane and Joe had been
dealing with Fletcher and his men by being the better men and walking away from
fights. However, Shane can no longer stand being provoked, and goes into town
to find Chris. Chris and Shane get into a fight at the bar, which ends with
Shane beating Chris up. Shane’s victory in this fight ends the teasing;
however, Joe becomes worried that this may cause Fletcher and his men to start
more fights with them. At this point in the story, we see that Joe and Shane
have changed the way they respond to conflict with Fletcher. Instead of
continuing to walk away from confrontations, they have started to fight back.
When Fletcher brings Wilson, a skilled gunman, to instigate some of the
farmers, Shane and Joe know it has to come the point where they need to defend
themselves. Shane goes into town with a gun to talk to Fletcher. He ends up
killing Wilson and shooting Fletcher. After this incident, Joe and his family
beg Shane to stay on the farm with them, but he says that since he has killed a
man, he must move on from the town.
In the book, Shane and Joe start out
handling their conflicts in a somewhat peaceful way. However, as the story goes
on, they realize that their method is not working and they decide to deal with
the issue in a different way. Although they are successful in solving their
problems when Shane kills Wilson, Shane knows he must now deal with the
consequences of the way he chose to handle his conflict. During my meditation, I
realized that, like Shane and Joe, sometimes I might need to change the way I handle
issues in order to be successful in overcoming them. In addition to this, I realized
that after I choose to deal with something a certain way, I will have to accept
the consequences of my actions and deal with them as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment