Question

That's the man. A couple of weeks ago, when I was in the storeroom, he closed the door and asked me . . . How's Mr. Frank? What do you hear from Mr. Frank? I told him I only knew there was a rumor that you were in Switzerland. He said he'd heard that rumor too, but he thought I might know something more. I didn't pay any attention to it . . . But then a thing happened yesterday . . . He'd brought some invoices to the office for me to sign. As I was going through them, I looked up. He was standing staring at the bookcase . . . Your bookcase. He said he thought he remembered a door there . . . Wasn't there a door there that used to go up to the loft? Then he told me he wanted more money. Twenty guilders more a week. What is a minor conflict in this excerpt?

Answer 1

The minor conflict involves a man indirectly blackmailing the speaker for more money, leveraging his knowledge of a hidden door related to Mr. Frank.

Step-by-step explanation:

The minor conflict in this excerpt emerges from an interaction between the speaker and a man who initially asks about Mr. Frank and expresses a curiosity about a hidden door. Tension increases when the man, later on, demands a raise, which is an example of extortion driven by the knowledge he has about the secret associated with the bookcase and the door. This creates a subtle power struggle and ethical dilemma for the speaker, who must decide whether to accede to the demand for more money to keep the secret hidden.