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How I learned to drive

Conflict and drama is something that is inseparable. By definition, conflict is that it is a struggle between opposing forces necessitating the presence of protagonists) and the presence of antagonists(s) (Turner 42). Conflict plays a crucial role in theme and character development. There are several forms of conflicts. Conflict reflects what takes place in the society. There are different types of conflicts. A person can be in conflict with his self especially when he or she is escaping from his real self and acquiring a new self-created by social forces. This is also called internal conflict. A person can also be in conflict with the society especially when he or she tries to defy societal expectations. This is called a conflict between individual and the society.

In the drama “How I learned to Drive”, there are many forms of conflicts. The most common conflict is the conflict between individual and the society. In the drama, women are in conflict with the societal expectation and gender bias. The drama is all about fetishization of women bodies. The women are striving to fight the culture, which tend to demean their bodies, while at the same time praising their minds.

The drama reveals that people are nicknamed because of their genitalia. Big Papa, for example, could be because of his genitalia. The drama also reveals that Li’l Bit was named after she was physically examined at birth. Female are fighting their independence but the society offers no freedom for them. Most characters cannot do according to their will simply because the societal forces are very strong and is interfering their autonomy.

The drama explores Lil'Bit about driving with her beloved uncle intermingle with lessons about the darker sides of life. The drama is about the male protagonist of How I Learned to Drive, who seduces an eleven- year-old girl. The child is being molested. The child is in conflict with the individuals older than her.

When one’s autonomy is compromised by external forces, a person will develop two forms of conflict. The first form of conflict is the internal conflict and the second form of conflict is individual-individual conflict. Internal conflict arises when a person cannot make independent choices simply because another person who purport to be superior dictates the victim’s decisions and choices. In the play, individual-individual conflict arises between the abused and the abuser. In the play, the lead character recalls her sexually abusive relationship with her uncle.

Uncle Peck is 20-some years older than the girl. He is also her uncle, yes Uncle Peck and hence is a close family member. This relationship began when Uncle Peck decided to teach L’il Bit to drive a car. However, Vogel did not show this until its quite late. The drama leapfrogs through time. She explore Li’l Bit’s childhood and also her emotionally paralyzed adulthood. The play bypasses into scenes showing the heartbreaking self-consciousness of a large-breasted girl in junior high school. The drama also explore Peck’s fishing lesson with Cousin Bobbly and also family squabbles at the dinner table. It should be noted that the scrambled chronology may confuse the audience. However, this is also used to clarify the patterns in the relationship between niece and uncle. It also signifies the degrees of responsibility, feelings of guilt and shifts in power. Ms. Vogel is doing this as a way of demonstrating that what is happening is a real love story.

The drama explores how some people receive harm from people who love them. The character’s great love for her Uncle Peck and her understanding of his troubled psyche propels the protagonist forward with her story and strengthens her resolve to move beyond the experience. Like in any setting, there must be conflict resolution strategies. The drama intends to enable the reader to disentangle the emotional experiences embedded within the abusive relationships, allowing them to see not only the victimization but also any benefits that arose independently of the emotional double-cross.

The final image of drama confirms that Li’l Bit managed to find forgiveness for Peck. For example, there is a point that states that as Li’l prepares to go for a drive, she adjusts her rearview mirror, and sees “the spirit of Uncle Peck” in the back seat, and smiles at him as she slips the car into first gear and drives off. So although the play is about the conflict and real drama of pedophilia, it also intends to led the readers and audiences know that conflict can be solved. Vogel sees the central journey of the drama as focused on Li’l Bit’s ability and responsibility “to look the experience squarely in the eye and then move on.” The end of the play confirms that while Li’l Bit was certainly a victim, she is also a survivor. The agency that allows Li’l Bit to move on at the end of the drama is used to signify Vogel’s desire to create a more hopeful alternative for her protagonist and her audiences.

Vogel seems to have no interest in a movie-of-the-week drama about molesting. One of the ways in which Vogel avoids sensationalizing the issue is through her nonrealistic staging of the molestation scenes. The Vogel’s plays take her audiences on a journey they would not ordinarily take but what is unusual about that journey is no only that it frequently takes them into the world of the fantastic and the bizarre but that it liberates them from a Manichaean frame of mind. She is trying to bring in the conflict and at the same time the conflict resolution process.

Conclusion

The foregoing analysis has demonstrated that the play or the drama is describing the conflict between Uncle Peck and Li’l Bit. The two are in a relationship but they have different ages. Uncle Peck is 20-some years older than the girl. He is also her uncle, yes Uncle Peck and hence is a close family member.

References

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Savran, David. A Queer Sort of Materialism: Recontextualizing American Theater. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003. Print.

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Bigsby, C W. E. Contemporary American Playwrights. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999. Print.

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Zautra, Alex. Emotions, Stress, and Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Internet resource.

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