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into her life. Every other woman she knew, it seemed was working in a factory preparing for a war and going out with friends in the evenings for a
lively time. If she was honest with herself, she would have had to admit that she did sometimes feel envious. Jealous of her twin Hannah and
jealous of her other sister, lively, carefree Dolly. Her own life seemed dull and lonely by comparison to theirs, even if she did have the beautiful son
he adored p.12.
Sometimes Dolly visits Jessie and Jessie is very happy because she has a friend to talk to. Dolly tells about her date with some sailors at evening days.
Jessie cannot hide her envy, it is not because she wants to go out with some sailors but she thinks that it seems that she has no time to enjoy herself in the
evening to go out. While Dolly chatted about the latest and most handsome sailor she’d met,
Jessie hid her envy. To her, it seemed an age since she had enjoyed an evening out p.29.
Jessie is a young woman who needs to have fun with her friends but she is
also a mother. As a good mother, her priority now is her child. She has to take care of her child while her husband goes to war. Sometimes, Jessie wonders if she
can turn back the time when she still a single woman. Jessie faces the double approach-avoidance conflict which has both positive and negative qualities. If
Jessie gets some fun to do, she will feel happy for a while but she will also feel guilty to her child and husband. In the other hand, if she chooses to take care of
her housework and child, she will feel bored.
4.3 The Interpersonal Conflicts
Worchel and Cooper define that interpersonal involves competition between two or more individuals over a goal or it involves a disagreement as to
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the means for reaching a goal. Jessie has to face the interpersonal conflicts from the people around her. They are her landlady, her mother and her landlord. She
must face the interpersonal conflicts because Tom runs from war and he has to face the military polices who are looking for him. This situation makes Jessie
move from one place to another because Tom always visits Jessie. Here is the
discussion of the interpersonal conflicts faced by Jessie.
4.3.1 Conflict with Mrs. Catlin
Jessie does not like to stay in Mrs. Catlin’s house. Jessie feels that Mrs. Catlin does not like her. Mrs. Catlin makes the unusual rules for her. Jessie cannot
bear her feeling anymore when Mrs. Catlin complains and mocks her. The quotation below shows that Mrs. Catlin complains about Billy’s pushchair and
Jessie’s attitude which Mrs. Catlin thinks that they are annoying. ‘It stinks up there,’ Mrs. Catlin complained. ‘What with that and you
dragging that pushchair through my passage every day. I shouldn’t have let you them rooms. Tom should’ave known better than to persuade me.
he knows how I feel about tenants with babies. And you don’t clean them stairs properly. Twice a week wash with all the comings and goings?
That’s not enough. And don’t think I can’t hear you and that strange tart laughing right through the night. Lord above knows what you get up to.
And why Tom hasn’t been back yet I don’t know. It’s as if he’s dumped his family and run p.195’
Jessie is very angry because of Mrs. Catlin’s mocks. Jessie thinks that Mrs. Catlin tries to find reasons to blame her. Jessie always obeys the rules from
Mrs. Catlin and she does not understand why Mrs. Catlin does not like her. ‘What do you want me to do, Mrs. Catlin?’ said Jessie ignoring all of that.
I’ve got to have water and I can’t do much about the stairs. ‘And as for where I hung my laundry, don’t you think that I would prefer to see my
son’s napkins hanging on a clothesline, out in the fresh air And Edna is
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not a tart. She brings light and fun into this stony cold home You should try talking to her It might bring a smile to your miserable face p.195’
Mrs. Catlin is angry when Jessie is not afraid to her. Mrs. Catlin thinks that Jessie will not dare to argue with her. Mrs. Catlin tells her true feeling about
Tom. She tells that Tom is a coward because he does not want to fight for his country. The quotation below shows the argument from Mrs. Catlin about Tom.
Thank Christ my daughter never did marry the waster Bad leg? Pull the other one. There’s nothing wrong with ‘im. He’s a lazy shirker. Won’t go
back out there and fight for his country He’s no more than a yellow belly. A coward p.196’
The statements from Mrs. Catlin make Jessie more furious than before. She cannot bear her anger anymore so she slaps Mrs. Catlin’s face. She does not
like Mrs. Catlin’s statement calling her husband is a coward. Finally Mrs. Catlin slips and falls down on her polished floor.
The loud stinging slap to Mrs. Catlin’s face seemed to come out of nowhere. Jessie hadn’t thought of hitting the woman. She hadn’t thought
about anything. The word ‘coward’ was still ringing through her brain. Startled and thrown off balance, her landlady fell backwards against the
passage wall and slipped on the rug covering the polished lino. As she fell, her sprawling arm hit a large vase, sending it and the slim round table
beneath flying p.196.
From the quotation above, Jessie feels insulted because of Mrs. Catlin’s opinion about her and Tom. Jessie cannot understand why Mrs. Catlin tells bad
thing about Tom. Jessie thinks that Mrs. Catlin is a good friend of Tom but in fact she really hates Tom. Jessie does not expect that Mrs. Catlin will say rude things
about Edna and Tom. Jessie knows that Mrs. Catlin does not like her to stay in Mrs. Catlin’s house. Jessie cannot control her emotion thus she slaps Mrs. Catlin’s
face. Jessie does not expect that she will slap Mrs. Catlin.
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4.3.2 Conflict with her mother, Rose
Jessie’s mother knows that Tom runs away from war because the military polices are looking for him around Rose’s house. Jessie avenges her husband and
that makes Rose angrier. Rose thinks that Jessie and Tom only think about their own contentment not Billy’s welfare. If tom goes AWOL Away Without
Leaving, Jessie will not get an army pension and the worst is Tom will be sent to prison.
Rose slammed her fist on the table, rattling the china cups and causing tea to spill over. I’ve never heard such tommyrot How could you stay
together with him on the run?’
No And you weren’t thinking of your baby’s welfare neither p.249?’ Jessie knows that she must not let Tom stay in her house while he is on the
run. As a good wife she supposes to tell Tom not to run from war but Tom does not want to understand. Actually, Jessie feels weary because of Tom’s attitude.
When her mother blames Jessie for Tom’s running and does want to help Jessie to hold Billy for a while, Jessie gets angry. The action and words from Rose that
make Jessie angry are when Rose refuses to hold Billy while Jessie is warming some milk and says that Jessie must do it by herself like what Rose does before to
her daughters. Jessie is angry because Rose actually separates Jessie and Hannah when they were born. Jessie thinks that her mother’s behavior in the past is more
disgraceful than she is. This was more than Jessie could take. She held Billy tight and stood up.
Stood up to her mother. ‘You are so innocent? You didn’t have to give away a baby because you couldn’t afford to feed it?’…….
‘Oh yeah. We mustn’t mention that must we? We mustn’t even think about two little one-year-olds, twins, being parted Didn’t you stop to
think that we might have missed each other? Pined and cried for one another? We shared the same womb We shared the same cot We shared
the same pram We must have cried for each other Didn’t you ever
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wonder if you’d behaved disgracefully p.250 Rose is angry because of Jessie’s words. Rose knows that Jessie tells the
truth about her past life that she separated her twins’ babies. Rose is surprised to hear Jessie insults her. She wonders why Jessie insults her own mother. Rose asks
Jessie to leave her house. ‘If you weren’t holding that child I would slap your face.’ Rose turned
away. ‘I disown the pair of you. Leave this house and don’t come back p.250.’
The quotation above shows that Rose is really angry to Jessie even she throws her daughter and grandson out from the house. The conflict between Jessie
and her mother makes Jessie shocked. She does not think that her own mother will throw her out. Jessie understands her mistakes that let Tom run from war but she
does not want everyone blame her. She needs encouragement from her family, but she does not get it. Jessie feels miserable now. She thinks that nobody understands
her feeling.
4.3.3 Conflict with Mr. Martin
Jessie has a conflict with her landlord, Mr. Martin. On Christmas Eve, Tom comes to Jessie’s house and stays there. The next morning, the military
polices come to Jessie’s rented house to find Tom. They search the room and find one of Tom’s cast-off socks, his cigarette pack, a book of matches, his cufflinks
on the side table and his empty teacup. Mr. Martin knows that the Military Polices come to Jessie’s house, he is so angry because he is questioned by the polices. He
asks Jessie to leave the house at that moment. ‘If I’d have known you were going to hide a rotten deserter I would never
have let you take this house. Get your things together and get out Today’
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he shouted, furious pp.333-334.
Jessie begs and cries. She tries to give the explanation but Mr. Martin does not want to hear any words from Jessie.
She pleaded, she begged, she cried, she tried to reason with him, but all in vain. He was in no mood to listen. He wanted her out and he wanted her
out that day. ‘ I can’t go just like that,’ she said, the tears pouring down her face. My furniture- p.334.
Mr. Martin does not want to know. He insists her to go right away. Mr. Martin is ve ry angry knowing that Jessie’s husband is a deserter.
‘If you can’t get it shifted today, leave it. Whoever I let come in will be some poor cow whose home’s been blown apart. She can use your things.
Now pack your bags and get out. If you’re still here tomorrow I’ll paint things on the window you’ll be ashamed to see p.334’
Jessie feels very sad. She has no place again to stay. After her mother throws her, now her landlord does the same thing. She feels that everyone hate her
and nobody help her. The conflicts from people around her makes Jessie stressed and disappointed. Moreover, Tom does not want to responsible for his fault. Jessie
has to accept the fact that her social environment mocks her.
4.4 Jessie resolves the intrapersonal conflicts
