The Troubled

Chick
A
Literary Criticism
paper presented in
Partial Fulfillment of the
Course Requirements
in English IV
(World Literature)
Submitted by:
Reyes, M. J. L.
&
Visaya, M. N. J.

Submitted to:
English IV teacher

August 5, 2013

Part I: Outline

Thesis Statement: Different kinds of conflicts were encountered throughout

the
I.

II.

III.

story which made it more exciting and interesting for the readers.
Chick vs. Himself
a. Committed suicide
b. Drunkard
c. Bad investments
d. Depressed
Chick vs. Man
a. Did not stand up for his mom
b. Catherine and Chick divorced
c. Maria didnt invite her father in her wedding
d. Chicks father is disappointed with his performance in his
baseball carrer
Chick vs. Society
a. They labeled Chick that he is a son of a divorced woman
b. Chick and his baseball mates

Part II: Literary Criticism

Every storyline involves some kind of conflict. What if theres no such

thing as conflict in a story? Would it be better or worse? A conflict is the
opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a
drama or fiction. (Merriam-Websters Dictionary) As the dictionary stated, it
is the opposition of forces that gives the story interesting and exciting for the
readers. It gives the plot its ups and downs. There are different kinds of

conflicts in this novel, For One More Day, which explains how the main
character

overcomes

it.

According

to

Caitlin

Gillmetts

PowerPoint

presentation, there are 4 kinds of conflict. Man versus man, man versus
society, man versus nature and man versus himself (summary). With this, we
can say that a character in a story encounters many problems.
The novel started with the line, LET ME GUESS. YOU want to know
why I tried to kill myself. (page 4) At the first line of the novel, we can see
that the author stated a conflict. Normally, we read or watch this part in the
rising action. We think that the author tells this part already because he
wants to get the attention of the readers and to introduce or establish his
characters and the other elements.
Chick Benetto, the protagonist, became a drunkard. After his mother
died, he became drunk. He said, After that, I drank moreballplayers in my
time always drankbut it became a problem which, in time, got me fired from
two sales jobs. Thats why this made me said that Chick became alcohol
dependent. That is also the cause why his family left him and why he doesnt
have a job. For us, it is ironic because he drinks alcohol to escape his
problems but this became one of the reasons why he had many problems.
And getting fired made me keep on drinking. I slept badly. I ate badly.
Money became a problem; Catherine and I fought constantly about it.
These are some of the reasons why Chick had a hard time controlling his
emotions.

The first time I read the novel, my first question is why did Chick
Benetto wanted to kill himself. This is the first conflict written in the novel. It
is about Chick against himself. For me, Chick wanted to kill himself because
he cannot handle his problems. WHAT FINISHED ME, what pushed me over
the edge, strange as it sounds, was my daughter's wedding. It means that
Chick and his daughter had a conflict. It is also ironic because why would a
daughter not invite his father to her own wedding? Maria and Chick had a
tension when he left his family and Maria chose to be with his mother. They
thought that Chick might ruin the event because Chick sometimes loses his
mind.

In the other parts of the novel, we could see that there are pages with
Times my mother stood up for me and Times I did not stand up for my
mother. This shows that Chick has a problem with his mom because even
his mother stood up for him, he did not do the same in return but he did the
opposite. He also wants to spend more time with his dad. He obeys what
anything his dad said. I lost both parents on the same day, one to shame,
one to shadow. This means that in the end, his father is not proud to him
that is why he realizes that his mother is more important to him than his dad
because even in the end, his mom is with him and did not let him to end his
life in misery.

Chick had a problem with the society. Although he remained silent,

there are other people that will judge him. When other people knew that
Chicks parents divorced, they labeled them as the divorcees child and her
mother lost her job at the hospital. The society thinks bad things about them
even they dont know the whole story. This is also like in the real life. The
author made this conflict to connect to his readers by giving a real life
problem like this. He cites some problems like in the family or in our
community which where we can relate.

We conclude that conflict is consequential to the whole plot because

this is where the whole story rotates. If there is no conflict, there is no plot.
Different kinds of conflicts were encountered throughout the story which
made it more exciting and interesting for the readers. Without the conflict;
the story will be dreary and tedious. Every conflict is solved before or at the
end of the story. This is also how the author communicates to the readers.
Bibliography
Gillmett, C. (2011). Types of Conflicts http://www.slideshare.net/caitlingillmett/typesof-conflict-5478403