Question

I went north—I did not try to hide myself. When a god or a demon saw me, then I would die, but meanwhile I was no longer afraid. My hunger for knowledge burned in me—there was so much that I could not understand. After a while, I knew that my belly was hungry. I could have hunted for my meat, but I did not hunt. It is known that the gods did not hunt as we do—they got their food from enchanted boxes and jars. Sometimes these are still found in the Dead Places—once, when I was a child and foolish, I opened such a jar and tasted it and found the food sweet. But my father found out and punished me for it strictly, for, often, that food is death. Now, though, I had long gone past what was forbidden, and I entered the likeliest towers, looking for the food of the gods.

–“By the Waters of Babylon,”
Stephen Vincent Benét


Which conflicts does the character face in this passage? Check all that apply.


character vs. society because he is breaking laws
character vs. self because his fear is growing
character vs. character because he faces demons
character vs. character because he faces the gods in the towers
character vs. nature because his hunger is driving him to take risks

Answer 1

I think it’s “character vs. nature because his hunger is driving him to take risks” as first of all: he’s not afraid (cancels out the second one), he’s hungry (“my hunger burned in me”), he knew that god’s food can be death (but he’s still going to search the food of the god’s - taking risks bc he’s hungry), he’s not facing demons (cancels out third one), he’s not breaking ‘laws’ because it’s not legally enforced that you can’t steal food from god. Therefore, the last one would make the most sense to me.

Answer 2

the answers are:

character vs. society because he is breaking laws

character vs. nature because his hunger is driving him to take risks