What internal struggle does Daniel face in chapter 9 of The Bronze Bow, and how are his actions illustrative of this struggle?

Rosh, Daniel’s leader and mentor, explains the struggle that is going on within Daniel toward the end of chapter nine. He tells Daniel this: “I know what is on your mind. It is better to do without killing when we can. But there is a flaw in you, boy, a soft streak. I’ve seen it over and over, these years. Like a bad streak in a piece of metal. Either you hammer it out, the way you’d hammer out a bubble, or you’ll be no good to us. When the day comes, there’ll be no place for weakness.” This is said after Daniel comes back from an assignment in which Rosh required him to rob a man of his bag of money.

The assignment that Rosh gives Daniel opens his eyes to his role in Rosh’s gang of rebels. He wonders whether his purpose in life aligns with that of his colleagues in the rebel group. Daniel’s mission in life is to avenge his family members, who have lost their lives at the hands of the Romans. He is a member of Rosh’s gang of outlaws because he sees in Rosh the leadership required to gain the freedom of all Jews from Roman bondage. As he tells his friend, Joel, in chapter seven of the book, “Rosh is like a lion. He has no fear at all.” He tells Joel that with enough fighters by his side, Rosh has the capability to drive out the Romans once and for all from their land. Thus, when Rosh asks him to waylay a miser—who is carrying some gold across the mountains to a friend in Antioch—and to steal from him, his soul is troubled. The miser lives as a beggar and has made a fortune out of begging, even though he is actually a very rich man. The fact that the miser is a deceitful old man relieves Daniel of some of his guilt. However, after robbing him, he is unable to leave the poor man for dead on the lonely mountain road. He goes back to the man and feels his heartbeat to ensure that he is still alive. When he realizes that the miser is alive, “he carries him to the roadside and lays him down in the shadow of a rock.” He then sits down beside him until he wakes. Later, he gives the miser one of the daggers that he had wrested from him. All of these actions prove that Daniel does not want to harm the miser. In fact, he does not even like the idea of robbing him. Indeed, in the confrontation he has with Rosh afterward, he states, “It is Roman blood that I want. Do we fight against Jews?” Daniel’s kindness to the man he robbed shows the internal turmoil that he must be experiencing, for it is not often that an armed robber will stop to take care of his victim. Daniel is a kind man, but he is torn between his plan for vengeance against the Romans and his love for his fellow men. Rosh argues that the fight against the Romans is an expensive one that is sometimes funded by gruesome assignments such as the one Daniel just completed. However, Daniel is not fully convinced by Rosh’s argument. He suspects that there is a “flaw” in Rosh’s argument, even though he cannot immediately point it out. He remembers what Jesus once said, namely, that “every person is precious in the sight of God.”

Who is Daniel's conflict with in The Bronze Bow?

Chapter One clearly indicates that the conflict Daniel has is with the Romans who have taken over his land and ensured that no Jew can be free and have possession of their own territory. Note how this is shown when Daniel looks down from the mountain where he and his fellow rebels are based and sees some Roman Legionaries:

Far down the mountain, on the narrow ribbon of road, he spotted a moving line that threw off reddish flashes of metal in the sunlight. Legionaries. At the sight, black hatred churned up in him. Out of habit he spat violently.

The way in which "Legionaries" is a one-word sentence emphasises the strong feelings that Daniel has when he sees these Roman soldiers. To reinforce that Daniel's central conflict is with the Romans who rule his people's land, the conversation he has with Joel indicates the level and depth of his hatred. Note he says "I curse the air they breathe," referring to the Romans. It is his hatred of Romans that led Daniel in part to run away and join the band of rebels that work to do what they can to impede the Romans, and it is this hatred too that Daniel needs to confront and deal with during the course of the novel.

How does Daniel's character evolve in The Bronze Bow?

Daniel begins the story full of hatred for the Romans for what they did to his family, and has resolved to satisfy that hatred through revenge. Impressionable and lacking a father, he turns to Josh as a role model, who is not the righteous revolutionary, determined to liberate the masses, as he first appears.  Through a series of experiences, which include meeting Jesus and hearing his friend Simon talk about him, Daniel begins to realize there is another way to view the world and achieve change rather than through the lens of hatred. When his sister, now friends with a Roman soldier, becomes very ill at the end of the story, Jesus visits their house and cures her. Daniel then understands the power of love is greater than the power of hate. “To know Jesus would be enough,” he says, “and with that the terrible weight was gone. In its place a strength and sureness, and a peace he had never imagined, flowed around  him and into his mind and heart” (252-53). He extends his heart to his friend Leah, speaks to the Roman soldier, and we know he will no longer be the tormented boy he was at the beginning of the story.

What action shows Daniel's change at the end of The Bronze Bow?

Throughout the entire novel, Daniel seeks to avenge the death of his parents and manifests his hate toward the Roman Empire. Towards the end of the novel, Daniel finds out that a Roman soldier named Marcus is interested in his sister, Leah. In Chapter 23, Daniel loses his temper after finding out that Marcus gave Leah a basket of fruit as a gift. Daniel's tirade ends up sending Leah into another catatonic spell. When Marcus finds out that Leah is ill, he stands outside of Daniel's house and asks Daniel how she is doing. Daniel spits on the ground in disgust and comments, "What is it to you if another Jew is dying?" (Speare 249). When Marcus tells Daniel that he simply wishes to see Leah before he is transferred, Daniel tells Marcus that he would rather let Leah die before he let Marcus inside his home. Later on in the last chapter, Jesus and Thacia visit Daniel's home and Jesus heals Leah. Daniel accepts Jesus' message and decides to let go of his hate and bitterness. On the last page of the novel, Daniel walks over to Marcus and tells him that the fever has left Leah and that she would like to say good-bye to him. Daniel then invites Marcus into his home which demonstrates that Daniel has changed.

How does the internal conflict of Daniel in The Bronze Bow develop?

Daniel is raised on hatred from the moment his parents die. After he runs away into the hills to work for Rosh, he nurtures himself on those dark feelings. The Romans who killed his parents and oppress his people are the objects of his hatred. He wants to use any means necessary—including violence—to bring them down and free his people. Rosh saved Daniel, so Daniel believes that he is a good man. He's able to look past his violent tactics, anger, cruelty, and the various sins he commits.

When Daniel is introduced to another perspective, however, his views of Rosh—and his own deeds—begin to change. The message of Jesus is a gentle, but powerful message of peace. Daniel responds to it, but doesn't believe that it's strong enough to free his people from oppression. Until Rosh exposes exactly how self-serving he is, Daniel is still at conflict with himself over his methods versus his belief that some of the things they're doing aren't right.

Ultimately, a lifetime of pain, oppression, and mistreatment have created anger within Daniel that is hard to soothe. His desire to free his people only adds fuel to the fire that compels him to fight for Rosh. However, he begins to see deep-down that this is not the right way to go and that there is another path.