The leader of a powerful country is known to many as a very peaceful person when dealing with foreign disputes. Suddenly, an enemy nation strikes out of nowhere and destroys one of the biggest urban cities in the country. Plans of war come to mind. Conflicts like these happen all the time around the world, ranging from what food a family is having for dinner to massive global wars. They can stem from misunderstandings, frustration, and much more. According to the Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi, “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind,” showing that violence is not always the best solution to our greatest problems. This disagreement between humans is not only displayed in real life but in stories as well. The prevalent man vs. man conflicts in the selections 'The Rules of the Game”, 'The Sniper', and 'The Most Dangerous Game' both drive the plot forward and enhance the story in detail.
In “The Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan, the man vs. man conflict depicted in the selection is the main character Waverly Jong, versus her mother. The first time Waverly’s annoyance at her mother is apparent is when even after winning multiple chess tournaments, her mom is never proud of her. Tan gives an example of this when she states, “As she wiped each piece (of the chess set) with a soft cloth, she said, ‘Next time win more, lose less.’ ‘Ma, it’s not how many pieces you lose,’ I said. ‘Sometimes you need to lose pieces to get ahead.’ ‘Better to lose less, see if you really need’” (4). Tan describes how the mother never recognizes the achievements her daughter has made and instead always sees what she can improve on. She is negatively affected by her mom’s remarks but continues to persevere. The treatment Waverly receives from her mother is harsh, but it gets worse as the story draws to a close. After winning many chess tournaments, her mother starts introducing Waverly to everyone on the street, and she is embarrassed by her mom’s actions. Tan shows Waverly trying to express her feelings to her mom when she writes, “I knew it was a mistake to say anything more, but I heard a voice speaking, ‘Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn how to play chess?’ My mother’s eyes turned into dangerous black slits. She had no words for me, just sharp silence” (5). Tan is illustrating the fact that when Waverly opens up to her mother, all she is met with is extreme disregard and anger. The points are made of the differing opinions between Wavery Jong and her mother throughout the story. Although a man vs. man conflict is expressed in “The Rules of the Game”, similar events also occur in “The Sniper”, by Liam O’Flaherty. The conflict represented in this selection is between the Freestaters and Republicans in a civil war in Dublin, Ireland. The narrative focuses on one soldier and his battle with another sniper. O’Flaherty describes the end result of this conflict when he says, “Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit. He was reeling over the parapet in his death agony. He struggled to keep his feet, but he was slowly falling forward as if in a dream.” (2). O’Flaherty gives us a brief glimpse of the triumph the sniper gets once he knocks down his enemy. This quote shows how much the war and his desire to kill the enemy have affected his mentality and sanity. The sniper was supposed to be rejoicing with his victory, but when he sees who he killed, the story takes a major turn. Once the sniper killed his foe, he got curious about who he shot down, maybe having the chance of finding someone he knew from earlier years. From the sniper’s perspective, “He threw himself face downward beside the corpse. The machine gun stopped. Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face” (O’Flaherty 2). O’Flaherty reaffirms the horrors of war through this quote, showing the destruction it caused. Also, he uses the last sentences of the text to emphasize the conflict between the two sides in the war and how it has led the sniper to kill his own brother.
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