Kimberly and she feels like she stops breathing. Matt is filled with need. Kimberly thinks that he seems unable to control himself p.102.
Kimberly attempts to stop him but she cannot. She asks Matt to use double condoms to prevent any unexpected things happen to them. However, that
condom was useless for them because they did not notice that the two condoms were torn.
After he‟s gone and I was trying to get the stains out of the blankets so Ma wouldn‟t suspect anything when she came home, I stopped short, my
hands flying to my mouth . There were the condoms. I should have known. The two condoms had rubbed against each o
ther and they‟d both torn. What a stupid idea of mine it‟d been. Neither of us had even noticed p.
104. The broken condoms become a serious matter for Kimberly. She never
imagines that she will be pregnant after that incident. She does not know what she will do. She has never experienced this kind of thing before. Kimberly faces the
second type of double approach-avoidance. When she knows that she is pregnant she is confused as to how she will respond. There are two choices she has to
choose. Every choice has both pleasant and unpleasant features . The first choice is having the abortion. If she does that she will not be ashamed and she will not
have the responsibility as a mother. However, if Kimberly aborts her pregnancy she will do a wrong thing. The second choice is to keep her baby. However, if she
chooses that she will have the responsibility of being a mother in her teenage years.
B. Conflict Resolution
In the second section the writer will analyze how Kimberly solves her conflicts, which have been analyzed in the first section. The writer uses the two
theories from Isenhart and Spagle 2000 and also Decenzo and Silhanek 2002 to analyze how Kimberly solves her conflict.
1. Conflict Resolution of Telling the Truth or Lying to Her Mother
The first conflict resolution is used by Kimberly when she has to face the intrapersonal conflict of telling the truth or lying to her mother. Kimberly is
afraid of telling her mother the truth that she gets 0 grade in her assignment. Kimberly experiences avoidance-avoidance intrapersonal conflict. She does not
want to make her mother sad and dissapointed with her because she has never got a bad grade before. However, if she does not tell the truth, she does wrong thing
because she lies to her mother. In this case she has to choose two unpleasant things. At first Kimberly still keeps her problem to herself but the more she keeps
it the more she cannot bear her problem. Hence, she decides to tell the truth that she gets zero grade to her mother.
Kimberly pretends that she gets stomachache so that she can escape from going to school because she is afraid to meet Mr. Bogart.Even though Kimberly
has told her mother that she gets stomachache, her mother does not believe her. She knows that her little daughter is lying. Therefore, she keeps asking Kimberly
to go to school but Kimberly still does not want to go p.14. Finally, she tells her mother why she does not want to go to school.
“I can‟t.” I said. My eyes started tearing up again, even though I tried to hide i
t by rubbing my face with the towel. “Are the other children mean to
you?” She asked kindly. “It‟s not the kids,” I said. I stared at the threshold of the bathroom. It‟s the teacher.” Now she looked skeptical. Teacher are
highly respected in Hong Kong. “What are you talking about?” I told her the whole story the way Mr. Bogart had corrected my accent yesterday, the
way he‟d been angry at the things I hadn‟t understood, that he‟d thought I‟d been cheating and give me zero. I couldn‟t stop them now, I let the
tears bring over but kept myself from breaking into full sobs p. 14.
Instead of being angry with Kimberly because of her story, her mother tries to make Kimberly feel better by cheering her up and hugs her. Kimberly is very
surprised when she knows tha t her mother is not angry with her. Her mother‟s
reaction really helps her to move forward. “I am sure that if you work the way you always do, he will give you
another chance.” She reached out and pulled me to her. She laid her cheek against the top of my
head. I was surprised and grateful Ma hadn‟t automatically taken the teacher‟s side against me. Leaning against her, I
closed my eyes and pretended for just a moment that everything will be alright p. 14.
From the situation above, Kimberly solves her problem by using mediation by Insenhart and Spagle 2000. In mediation, people who experience
conflict need third person or mediator. Mediator should not be biased but shehe should help the subject of conflict makes the decision. Mediator also has to be a
motivator. Finally Kimberly tells her mother the truth. Fortunately, Her mother is not angry with her. Kimberly‟s mother can place herself as a good third person for
her daughter. She listens to Kimberly‟s story and she does not blame Kimberly at all. She also motivates Kimberly to keep doing good things so that her teacher
will give her a second chance.
2. Conflict Resolution of Moving into the New Apartment or Staying in the
Old Apartment
The second conflict resolution is used by Kimberly when she faces the conflict about moving into the new apartment or staying in the old apartment.
Kimberly lives in the cold and small apartment. One day her neighbor tells her that the goverment will build new building so that the their block will be broken
down. Kimberly and her mother are very surprised when they hear that. That news creates conflict in Kimberly‟s self. She gets confused whether she has to move or
stay. In her confusion she decides to stay in the old apartment no matter what will happen until she and her mother can pay their debts to Aunt Paula.
Kimberly really does not understand why Aunt Paula does not tell her and her mother about the Goverment‟s plan. Kimberly tries to ask her mother to move
to another apartment. However, her mother does not want to move because they still have to pay their debts to Aunt Paula. Moreover, her mother respects Aunt
Paula so much because Aunt Paula has done many things to help her. “Ma, let‟s run away. We can find a new job at another factory. Aunt Paula
doesn‟t have to know.” Back in Hong Kong, I would never have dared to talk to Ma like this, to openly argue with her about such grown-up topics,
but I had never had the responsibilities there that now I did. I had never been so desperate to change our living situat
ion. Ma‟s eyes were intense. “And our debt to her, then? She spent the money to cure me, for our green
cards and tickets. It‟s not a question of what we can get away with, it‟s a question of honor.” “To her?” I tugged at a lock of my hair, frustated by
Ma and her integrity p. 33.
Even though Kimberly has asked her mother to move into the new apartment but her mother wants to stay in the their old aparment. Therefore,
