Discussion Topic
Conflict in "Rumble Fish"
Summary:
The main conflicts in S.E. Hinton's Rumble Fish revolve around Rusty-James' struggles with society and himself. Raised in poverty by neglectful parents, Rusty-James faces a society offering few opportunities, leading him into gang life. His internal conflict involves idolizing his brother, the Motorcycle Boy, who rejects gangs and violence. Despite his brother's influence, Rusty-James struggles to escape his circumstances. The novel ends unresolved, with the Motorcycle Boy's death and Rusty-James' continued alienation and uncertainty.
What is the conflict in the story "Rumble Fish?"
Rusty-James is the protagonist of this story, and his conflict is both man vs. society and man vs. self. His tendency to not think of his past or future, to act too much in the moment, is the result of his abandonment. He is raised by inept parents and in a "crummy" neighborhood. He worships Motorcycle Boy because this is the only person Rusty knows that has a plan, a purpose, and a sense of what things mean. No one else in Rusty's life - in his society - have been able to provide these things for him. Hinton is commenting in this book - as in The Outsiders and others - on the consequences of poverty in this country.
But besides the conflict with society, Rusty has to battle himself. He has to mature and to choose a path. As Steve tells him in the last chapter, when they...
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are in fact both adults, "If you want to go somewhere in life you just have to work till you make it." Unfortunately, Rusty has not won the battle with himself or with society, and still struggles to find a place he wants to go.
The primary conflict in Susan E. Hinton's novel, Rumble Fish, concerns the relationship between Rusty-James and his brother, The Motorcycle Boy. The Motorcycle Boy has attempted to leave his former gang life behind him, escaping to California to avoid the temptations of the Tulsa, Oklahoma streets. However, The Motorcyle Boy's absence leaves Rusty-James without an influential big brother, and Rusty-James falls deeper into the gang and street life which his brother has tried to leave behind. Rusty-James looks to his brother as a type of young god who has always shown up to help him out of his various jams. While The Motorcycle Boy preaches independence that does not include gangs and violence, Rusty-James sees no such future for himself. He has a fear of being alone, and he realizes that The Motorcycle Boy will probably leave town again soon.
The climax of the story occurs when The Motorcycle Boy steals fish--Siamese fighting fish ("rumble fish")--from the pet store, hoping to symbolically release them in the nearby river. Instead, he is shot dead by the local police officer, and the fish die as well. The resolution takes place in the final chapter, which picks up where Chapter One left off: Old friend Steve has run into Rusty-James on a California beach some six years after they had last seen one another. Steve invites Rusty-James to dinner, but Rusty will not go: Steve is a reminder of the past which he is trying to forget.
What is the main conflict in Rumble Fish?
By "main problem," I believe that the question is referring to the central conflict. I have to pick two central conflicts because they are woven together and equally central.
The first conflict is an external, man vs. society conflict. Like The Outsiders, Rumble Fish focuses on a protagonist from a lower class, poor part of town. He is a victim of circumstances in a lot of ways. His parents are not supportive or role models at all, and his family doesn't have strong finances. Consequently, Rusty has turned to gangs and violence. On one hand, he experiences a sort of kinship there, but on the other hand he knows that the gang world is dangerous and won't lead to anything good in the long term.
That leads to the second main conflict. Rusty has an internal conflict of trying to do right by his brother's advice. The Motorcycle Boy got out of the gang life, and Rusty idolizes his brother. Rusty wants to be like him, but Rusty struggles with finding the inner reserves to make the tough choices his brother did.
In Rumble Fish, how is the main conflict resolved?
S.E. Hinton never does actually resolve the main conflicts of her novel Rumble Fish. Rather, she ends her story of alienated youth with the story's most heroic figure, Motorcycle Boy, dead at the hands of a police officer and the story's main protagonist, Rusty-James, alone and despondent, his best friend, Steve, having left with his former girlfriend, Patty. Motorcycle Boy is Rusty-James' older brother and the younger boy looks up to his frequently-absent role model, whose mobility and experiences provide the only sources of wisdom to which Rusty-James is receptive. In one passage, Rusty-James, 14 years old, describes his fealty to his older brother:
"He was the coolest person in the world. Even if he hadn't been my brother, he would have been the coolest person in the whole world. And I was going to be just like him."
Rusty-James' life is one of day-to-day survival, his mother having long abandoned the family and his father a disengaged alcoholic with no inclination towards raising his sons to be responsible adults. Still, Rusty-James is not without hope, at least not initially. He hopes that Motorcycle Boy's philosophy of life, summarized in the following quote, can be a model for his own future:
“I made up my mind that I'd get out of that place and I did...I learned that if you want to get somewhere, you just make up your mind and work like hell til you get there. If you want to go somewhere in life, you just have to work till you make it.”
That Motorcycle Boy ends up dead and Rusty-James alone speaks to the enduringly-pessimistic tone of Hinton's novel. If one wishes to provide an answer to the question "how is the main conflict resolved," one can only conclude that it is resolved when the novel's most admirable character lies dead in the street and a 14-year-old boy is left alone.
Is the main conflict of Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton character vs character?
In S. E. Hinton’s novel, the protagonist, Rusty-James, does come into conflict with a number of other characters. In part because he lives in a very unsettled state in which conflict is the norm rather than the exception, the main conflict is actually not between characters. Depending on which aspects a reader accentuates, the main conflict could be seen as person versus society or as person versus themself.
Rusty-James and his family are poor and have few opportunities to significantly change their financial situation. His parents make a number of poor decisions and often do not behave responsibly toward their children. The overall social environment in which they live is not conducive to improving the prospects of the poor. Rusty-James may be considered realistic or pessimistic about the opportunities that await him as an adult, based on the challenges his father has faced, no matter how competently. Feeling as though he does not fit in, Rusty-James understands that many problems are inherent within society, and sees it as operating against his best interests. This attitude supports the person versus society thematic conflict.
Rusty-James also tends to internalize his difficulties and experiences deep alienation. While he does blame society, he also experiences self-doubt and recriminations. He worries about becoming truly alone as well as thinking about the emotional and intellectual gulf he often experiences separating him from other people. Although there are very real problems in his world, one of the strongest central conflicts in Rusty-James against himself.