The Glass Roses
by Alden Nowlen
There are various conflicts in the story, "The Glass Roses", though the main and
most significant one being of an internal conflict within the protagonist, Stephen,
a "willowy fifteen-year-old" working in the pulp woods. The internal conflict occurs
between his desires to fulfill his childhood dreams and those to become a "man".
Stephen is heavily influenced by his father, and longs to be like the other workers
with their "ox-like shoulders", but also does not want to leave his "childish"
dreams and ideals behind. However, Leka, the Polack, shows Stephen how that
being different and having your own ideals and ideas can be beautiful, like his
mother's glass roses though "There is not much room in the world for glass
roses". The conflict is solved however, when Stephen decides to become like his
father and fit the stereotype of a man, perhaps because he does not want to
disappoint his father, raising an important issue, "To what extent should a child
conform to his parents' expectations of him?" I think that it is through these
conflicts that the author effectively demonstrates how heavily a person can be
influenced by others, such as their parents.
The protagonist in the story, Stephen is a very dynamic character, as he learns
much from his father and Leka while working in the pulp woods. In the beginning
of the story, Stephen is unsure about who he wants to be. He tries to be like his
father, endlessly felling trees, but is unable to leave his "childish" ideals and
values, such as his "fascination with tales of far places." He learns to try and
follow his own ideas and beliefs from Leka, who is different from the other men,
but in the end decides to become like his father after seeing how he would be
viewed in society, and by his father- "Them Wops and Bohunks and Polacks has
got funny ideas. They ain't our kinda people. You gotta watch them."
In the story, the author effectively uses two of the characters to help develop the
protagonist, Stephen, throughout the story. Stephen's father, the foreman of the
pulp cutting crew and the "huskiest and solemnest of them all", perfectly fits the
common stereotype for a "man" and is who Stephan looks up to. To help fuel the
protagonist's internal conflict, the author creates and uses the "Polack" as a
character foil to Stephan's father. The two characters are then used to help
influence Stephan and resolve the conflict.
There is one main form of irony in the story, that being where Stephan longs to
be like his father, a grown man, but wants to keep his "childish" ideals and values
as well. This is an example of attitudinal irony because it occurs in the character's
thoughts and feelings; the character's attitude.