‘Good. On the second level is a clothing store called Frenchmen’s Bend.’ ‘I
saw it.’
‘At precisely noon tomorrow, I want you to stand by the entrance and wait for five minutes.’
‘Come on, Darby. You won’t be alive at noon tomorrow. Enough of this cat and mouse.’
‘Just do as I say, Gavin. We’ve never met, so I have no idea what you look like. Wear a black shirt of some type and a red baseball cap.’ p.208
It can be seen from the quotation that Darby Shaw is very careful in arranging her meeting with Verheek because she never meets this guy. She
realizes that Gavin can be a help but also can be a threat to her life. I can conclude that she experiences approach-avoidance conflict because
she has to choose something that has good and bad effect to her. She resolves the conflict by using negotiation method.
4.2.1.3 Believing in Grantham
On her way to meet Gavin Verheek, Darby meets Grantham, a reporter of Washington Post. Darby wants to trust him but she is afraid that her experience
with Verheek will happen again. She absolutely knows that if she tells the story and Grantham runs it in his newspaper, both of them will be haunted and chased.
This is also another conflict because in one side she wants to run the story and reveals who has killed Thomas, but on the other side, she has no guts to do it. It
can be seen from the following quotation: “You’re
safe.” “Maybe for the moment. We’ll both be hunted when this story is
published. Assuming it’s published.” Gray rattled his ice and studied her. “Depends on what you tell me. And
it depends on how much can be verified from other sources.” “The verification is up to you. I’ll tell you what I know, and from there
you’re on your own.” p. 246
Grantham asks her to move to Washington. Grantham feels that if she moves to Washington, she will be much more secured. Darby rejects it. She says
that it will be much safer if she leaves the country and go to another country, but she and Grantham are still having a job to find Gracia, a man that they hope will
give a little clue on their case, the Pelican Brief. It can be seen from the following quotation:
He waited a moment. “Are you okay?” “I’m terrific. Never felt better.”
“Are you coming to D.C?” “I don’t know. I’m safe here, and I’ll be much safer when I get on a plane
and leave the country.” “Sure, but I thought you had this wonderful idea about finding Gracia,
then hopefully nailing Mattiece. I thought you were outraged and morally indignant and motivated by revenge. What’s happened to you?”
“Well, for one, I have this burning desire to see my twenty-fifth birthday. I’m not selfish, but perhaps I’d like to see my Thirtieth too. That would
be nice.” p. 275
This becomes a conflict inside Darby Shaw. This conflict, according to Worchel and Cooper’s theory of conflict, can be categorized as approach-
avoidance conflict because the goal that she wants to achieve has attractive and unattractive aspects. The conflict involves two parties, the first party is her will to
leave the country and the other party is her curiosity to solve the case. She wants to leave the country to save her life but on the other side, she wants to reveal
what motives are behind the murder, although it may hurt and even kill her. And also, Darby Shaw is motivated to take revenge for Callahan’s death. She resolves
this conflict by using negotiation. She negotiates the conflict with herself. She decides to reveal what is behind Callahan’s death and risk her life for that.
4.2.1.4 In Solving the Case of the Murder of Two Justices and Callahan
Another conflict arises whenever Darby Shaw tries to solve the case of the murder of two Justices and also Callahan’s death. In order to make the case
clear, Darby tries to meet Michael Akers, an ex-clerk at White and Blazevich, a law firm. She wants to ask few questions related to the Brief and also new clues
she has found. In looking for that man, Darby has to lie, whereas she is not accustomed lie. She is also not accustomed act like reporter and asking around
about a person. But, in the sake of her case, Darby Shaw forces herself to do it. She could never be a reporter. She could never walk up to strangers and
start asking a bunch of questions. It was awkward and uncomfortable. But she walked up to a shy-looking young man with sad eyes and thick
glasses, and said, “Excuse me. Do you happen to know Michael Akers? I think he’s in this class.”
That’s him, in the gray sweater.” “Thanks.” She left him standing there p. 320
The way she looks for information becomes a conflict because it is against her heart. According to Worchel and Cooper’s theory of conflict 1970, this conflict
can be categorized as double approach-avoidance conflict. On one side she has to lie but she will get information. On the other side, she does not need to lie but she
will not get any information. It can be seen from the quotation that she is not able to lie or pretend to be someone else, but she is forced to do so. In solving
this conflict, she asks some helps from a guy. It means that she uses mediation process to solve her conflict.
The same conflict also happens when Darby and Grantham want to meet Edward L. Linney, Another ex-clerk at White and Blazevich. They want to meet
this person because this person is so important in revealing the case. This is the
last source Darby and Grantham have. Therefore, they try so hard to get in the hospital and meet him. Edward is hospitalized in a private hospital, the Parklane
Hospital. It is a detoxify center for the rich or someone with expensive insurance. The hospital is very strict. It is a small building surrounded by trees and sitting
alone a half mile off the highway. Grantham and Darby have difficulties entered the room where Edward is in, but they do not give up. It becomes a conflict
within Darby Shaw because she never does it before. She knows that if she gets caught, she will be arrested. Darby, having known the number of the room,
sneaks out. She resolves it by encouraging herself to be brave and sneaking out. She uses negotiation process. It can be see from the following quotation:
He pointed to a set of double doors that appeared to lead to the only hall way. She took a deep breath, and walked quickly through them.
This would get her arrested. She would be tackled by a large security guard or a heavy nurse and taken to a locked room where the cops would
rough her up when they arrived, and her sidekick out there would stand and watch helplessly as they led her away in shackles. Her name would
be in the paper, the Post, and Stump, if he was literate, would see it, and they’d get her.
From the quotation above, I can conclude that Darby Shaw has a conflict that is breaking the rule that may bring her to jail or her curiosity to meet with
Edward to find some information related to her lover’s death. It is clear that the first party is the rule of the private hospital that not allow visitor and the other
party is Darby’s curiosity to find information from Edward. We can see that she negotiates the chance of meeting Edward for some important information with
the chance of being arrested. Her resolution on her conflict brings a great result. Her efforts are not useless. She can get very valuable information about the case.
Edward can identify the photograph as Curtis D. Morgan, a lawyer in Oil and
Gas section. This valuable information brings Darby Shaw and Grantham into their next steps.
4.2.2 Interpersonal Conflicts
According to Worchel and Cooper 1979: 460, interpersonal conflict is a conflict that arises between the characters with the power outside the character.
In this part I explain about the conflict between Darby Shaw and power outside her. The explanation will describe the conflict between Darby Shaw and outside
powers such as Callahan, the killer, FBI, and Grantham.
4.2.2.1 Against Callahan
Darby Shaw often has a conflict with her lover, Professor Callahan. When they finish having diner in a restaurant, Professor Callahan orders two
glasses of double Scotches and also a bottle of wine. The beverages make him drunk and they argue each other. The situation becomes tense because Darby
Shaw is unhappy with Callahan’s way of drinking. She does not like that Callahan drink too much and gets drunk. The arguments become nastier when
they are walking to his car to go home. Callahan insists that he should drive his precious car, a Porsche. In fact, Callahan is very drunk. He walks unsteadily
along the path toward his car. He also misjudges a curb and hit it with his toes instead of his sole. He is tumbling and cursing.
Seeing that his boyfriend is drunk, Darby insists that she should be the one who drives the car. Beside, she is very embarrassed seeing his boyfriend, a
law professor, breaks law by becoming drunk. She is afraid that he will hit and
kill someone. Darby, in order to force Callahan to hand the key, stops at the other side of the road. She threatens Callahan that she will walk home if he
insists driving the car. Callahan gives no attention to her and lets her walks. According to Worchel and Copper’s theory of conflict 1979, this situation can
be categorized as a conflict. The parties who are in conflict are Darby and an outside power, Callahan. It can be seen from the following quotation:
The argument turned nasty on the sidewalk as they walked away from the restaurant. He pulled the keys to the Porsche from his pocket, and she
said he was too drunk to drive. He gripped them and staggered on in the direction of the parking lot, three blocks away.
He misjudged the curb, hit it with his toes instead of the sole, and went sprawling and bouncing and cursing along the sidewalk. He scrambled up
quickly before she could reach him. Leave e alone, dammit, he told her.
She’d never seen him this drunk. He’d never touched her in anger, drunk or not. p.124
Facing this kind of conflict, Darby uses negotiation. She negotiates with Callahan that she will walk home if Callahan does not give her the key. She
forces Callahan to hand the keys and let her drive by stopping on the other side of the sidewalks and saying that she will walk home unless he hands the keys. It can
be seen from the following quotation: She said he was too drunk to drive. He gripped them and staggered on in
the direction of the parking lot, three blocks away. She said she would walk. Have a nice one, he said.
Just give me the keys, she begged, or I’m walking She yelled at him as he approached the Porche. ‘Thomas Please Let me
drive’ she was on the sidewalk and would go no farther p.124 From the quotation above, I can conclude that Darby Shaw is having a
bad argument with Callahan that become conflict between them. Seeing that her lover is drunk, she is forced him to hand the key of the car so that there will be
any accident in their way home. Darby Shaw tries to resolves her conflict by
using negotiation process. She negotiates with Callahan that she will drive the car or she walks. Unfortunately, it is unsuccessful.
4.2.2.2 Against the Killers
Another interpersonal conflict is when she writes about “The Pelican Brief”. The Brief has made some important men mad and therefore they are
trying to get rid of people who know about the Brief. Their first target is, of course, the writer of the Brief, Darby Shaw. The Brief has brought Darby Shaw
an interpersonal conflict between herself and her chaser. Her chaser, or the out side power, wants her to be dead and Darby Shaw wants to keep alive. The
interpersonal conflict can be seen from the following quotation: “It’s a long story. Who saw the Brief, Gavin? Thomas gave it to you
Monday night. It’s been passed around, and forty-eight hours later he’s dead. And I’m supposed to be dead with him. It fell into the wrong hands,
wouldn’t you say?” p. 132-133
This is an interpersonal conflict of Darby because she has to face the conflict between herself and the killer. In this case the outside power wants her
dead. This is a very serious conflict that Darby Shaw has faced. If she handles it wrong, her life is in danger.
One of her chasers is Stump. He chases her in the streets of New Orleans. Darby tries to avoid him but Stump is a professional. He is able to follow Darby
Shaw although she has tried hard to escape. When finally Darby Shaw almost gets caught by Stump, she tries to get some helps and it is works. According to
Worchel and Copper’s theory of conflict 1979, it can be categorized an interpersonal conflict because Darby Shaw is fighting against the outside power,
that is, being chased by the killer. It is a dangerous situation. If Darby Shaw wants to survive, she has to able to escape. In this conflict, the outside power is
Stump, the killer, who wants her death. In this conflict, Darby Shaw resolves it by using mediation method. She
avoids the killer by using some men as her protectors. She asks for help from them. She says that her chaser is going to rape her, and it works The three men
can get rid of Stump although they have to suffer. It can be seen from the following quotation:
He was back there, running and gaining. When she turned onto Bourbon, Mr. Stump was fifty feet behind her, and the race was over. She saw her
angels as they made a noisy exit from a bar. Three large, overweight young men dressed in a wild assortment of black and gold Saints garb
stepped into the middle of the street just as Darby ran to them.
“Help” he screamed wildly and pointed at Stump. “Help me That man is after me He is trying to rape me”
The three saints stepped in front of him with folded arms and glowing eyes. It was over in seconds. Stump used both hands at once: a right to
the throat of the first one, and a vicious blow to the mouth of the second. They squealed and fell hard. Number three was not about to run. His two
buddies were hurt and this upset him. He would have been a piece of cake for Stump, but number one fell on Stump’s right foot and Benjamin Chop
of Thibodaux, Louisiana, number three, kicked him squarely in the crotch, and Stump was history p. 201
From quotation above, I can conclude that Darby Shaw has a conflict that may endanger her life. Her conflict is between herself and Stump, an out side
power that wants her death. She is able to resolve her conflict and save herself by using mediation process. She asks helps from three young men in the street by
making a fake story about raping.
4.2.2.3 Against the FBI
The third interpersonal conflict is whenever Darby Shaw talks with Verheek, a FBI agent that is also a friend of Thomas Callahan, he wants Darby
Shaw to trust him and make an appointment but Darby Shaw rejects it. She cannot trust Verheek. She thinks that Thomas is dead because he gives the Brief
to Verheek and another copy to another man. In other words, Darby Shaw blames Verheek for causing the murder. It can be seen from the following quotation:
“Darby Is this you?” “Who
else?” “Why
haven’t you
called before now?” “Please, don’t start asking a bunch of stupid questions. I’m at a pay
phone, so no funny stuff.” “Come on, Darby. I swear you can trust me.”
“Now you’re playing games, Gavin. How can I trust you if you won’t talk to me?”
“Okay. I think it’s safe to say your little Brief hit someone in the gut. You guessed right, the wrong people learned of the Brief, and now Thomas is
dead. And they’ll kill you the instant they find you.”
“We know who killed Rosenberg and Jensen, Don’t we, Gavin?” p. 193 According to Worchel and Copper’ theory of conflict 1979, her conflict
with Verheek can be categorized as an interpersonal conflict because there is a conflict between Darby Shaw and an outside power. The outside power is Gavin
Verheek. Verheek forces her to trust him and wants to meet but Darby Shaw is reluctant in trusting him. She can not trust him because Gavin Verheek is an FBI
agent. She is suspicious with Gavin Verheek because Darby Shaw thinks that FBI is involved in the case.
In solving this conflict, Darby Shaw forces Verheek not to make an appointment but she will contact him all the time. It can be classified into
negotiation method. She negotiates Verheek’s curiosity with information that she has, and it works. She is able to make a promise to Verheek that they will meet in
one place to discuss the matter and as the return, Verheek will protect Darby Shaw. Unfortunately, before the meeting happens, Verheek is killed.
4.2.2.5 Against Grantham
Another interpersonal conflict also happens when she is debating with Grantham. In order to hide, Darby and Grantham rent a room in a hotel that no
one knows, but someone has found the room where Grantham hides in. In fact, the room should be in secrecy. Only Darby and Grantham know the number of
the room and also hotel. She blames him because Grantham tells Smith Keen, his friend, where he is staying. Darby insists that it can raise the danger.
“I have no Idea how anyone could find my room,” “Did you tell anyone your room number?
He thought for a second. “Only Smith Keen. But he’d never repeat it.” She shook her head slowly. “I distinctly told you not to tell anyone.
Didn’t I? I’ve tried to impress upon you how dangerous these people are. I’ve seen
what they can do. I know what they’ll do to me if they find me. But no, Gray, it’s all a game to you. Cops and robbers. Hide-and-seek.”
“Get a room here. Tomorrow night, if we’re alive. I’ll find you another small hotel p. 311
It is a conflict between Darby and Grantham because Darby wants to trust him
but Grantham ruins it and tells the number of the room to Keen. To solve this conflict, Darby uses negotiation process. She negotiates with Grantham about the
his room. Since the his room is not safe anymore, she offers Grantham to rent a room in the hotel they are staying now and the next day they will find another
hotel. Grantham accepts her suggestion. From the quotation above, I can conclude that although Darby Shaw and
Grantham have agreed that they will cooperate to each other, a conflict occurs
