"No One's A Mystery" Elizabeth Tallent

I really enjoyed this piece because of the clear contrast between the wants of the two characters, which is the heart of the conflict. There was a clear distinction in their age and mentality that posed a challenge.  The author represented the older man as being more realistic and he conveyed that through his speech. One of my favourite lines was when he said “her breath would smell like your milk, and its kind of a bittersweet smell, if you want to know the truth.” This captured his maturity and understanding that only comes with age, as well as subtly conveying to us that he is already a father. In stark contrast is the younger girl’s thoughts. She is looking for something serious in this relationship as shown by her hopes for the relationship. Her lines, “her breath smells like vanilla and her eyes are just Jacks colour of blue,” is a clear example of the future she sees for them, and it also further reveals her innocence. They are two characters with two very different motives. I thought that the author did an excellent job in capturing the essence of the conflict through dialogue. An example is when he says “I like yours, but I believe mine,” referring to the story that will be written. Although the conflict between the two is present throughout the piece it is brought out explicitly in a few sentences such as the one mentioned earlier. This is a good tool because it has a greater effect on the statement made by the characters and it reaffirms the conflict.