the book has many different conflicts that the protagonist goes through such as man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs. society. In man vs. man, it's Karim vs. Maha, Karim goes through the adventure consistently arguing with Maha about different things for instance when they argue about where Chlifa is and why they should go or not go. In man vs. self Karim is faced to go through the conflicting problem of Nada's death he consistently is reminded of her and then there are questions that then pop in his head that he needs answers to. Man vs. society Karim faces the war going on which creates the problems that he has now, it has changed his life completely. All of these conflicts have enriched my understanding of the themes like war and death.

The conflicts show me the theme mourning by showing that mourning even though it hurts it also causes problems that you should not let take over you and that you must be able to forget and let go because Karim was not able to let go of her yet he still wanted her with him and he needed answers but not letting go has cause him to think unclearly to not see the actions that he is making. The theme of war and death the conflicts show me how much war and death really affects a person and how in an instance your entire life can turn around for the worse that in one moment everything changes you lose everything you ever loved everything you wanted and needed even though you may have survived through the war the deaths of others will still affect you for a very long time and ever time you think of them it has a major impact on you. I think the author wanted to let us know that these themes are something that we should never feel or see in our life and that these things are something that can affect you badly and no one should go through this.

Setting:

The book first takes place in Montreal in January-February 1990. Then afterwards we find the setting change to Beirut-Chlifa, Lebanon June 1989. Other places where the story takes place is on the route where Karim and Maha take to their way to Chlifa the places are Jetia Cave, Qalat Fakra, Farya, Aphaca, Akura, Yammouneh which are all tourist spots. As the go along the weather change the farther along the weather gets colder as they reach their destination.

Characters:

The protagonist of the book is Karim. Other characters include Dave, Nada, Nancy, Jad, Bechir, Antonie Milad and Maha. Karim is a guy from Lebanon people think of Karim as a perfect person but boring.

Since the myths captured his interests the lesson were easily taught. Peter was a person who never seem to pay attention he was unfocused like when he was in the facility and they talked to him or looked at him, also Peter said he could never learn anything he tried but he never could but when told these myths it captured Peter's attention it intrigued him and he could learn the lesson without even knowing it. Since these myths interested him it also related to him like the myth about the raven how it wasn't born bad it was just like that after during that time Peter thought that he was born bad the myth connected with him it was similar and therefore it was able to get through to Peter and what was trying to be taught was taught without being told directly that it was told because it was connected to him. The myths not only taught lessons but they entertained him it made him interested in what was being told it made him think more before any of this Peter never seem to have much going on in his head but near the ending he thinks about the raven and its trickery and the spiritual things etc.

The myths that were told to Peter were never said that it was actually a lesson. The myths had a message inside that was never directly told to Peter it had to be searched for like the myths about the winds and eagle flies high it was never told to Peter that it was about decision making he had to learn for himself that decisions could not be made for you that you choose your own way and no one else had control over what you choose. The myths had made Peter think more what his problems were and why did the old man just suddenly talk about this myth to me? How did it relate to me? What was it sole purpose? Having to search for his own meaning helped him understand more of what was being taught it had a stronger purpose to him. Also having to thinks and search for the meaning and lesson had a stronger effect then being told straight forward because he thought of it himself no one else helped which makes him remember what he learned because it was his own idea and its what he wants to know and what he wants to remember for farther use.

These myths that were told were more interesting to remember for Peter instead of being made to learn something straight forward. In the past when Peter was taught something he could never remember unless he was abused, threatened or he was told that others will get mad at him for what mistake he had made. The myths taught things to Peter that were of his interests it wasn't forced to Peter to listen he chose to himself so thus he was able to remember because the myths were of his interests, they somehow related to him or it was something he needed to hear. He also never forgot anything the old man said because through the story he remembers about the raven he starts to see it. This shows that myths stuck to him it effectively taught Peter things that he was able to remember and learn and not forget like when he went to school.

Myths have many uses especially for Peter; it helped him learn lessons that were very effective for him. This shows that myths are a very effective way to teach lessons it shows that it had a huge impact on Peter it changed his personality he learned things that had helped him a lot to over come his fears and his problems.

The Road to Chlifa and Dreamspeaker has very similar aspects of conflict that both protagonists seem to go through. Both main characters have inner problems that conflict with their lives that add major problems. They both have problems with society that cause their way of life to change completely. They also have conflicts with nature they need to adapt to nature to find shelter.

Man vs. self is the major conflict that the characters have their inner problems effect the very way of their life and causes them to act differently then they would. The book The Road to Chlifa the main character Karim he suffers his biggest inner problem the death of his girlfriend who he has just seen died. This causes him to think clearly with the things that are happening around him and it also affects he judgment of people. When he has decided to go with Maha to Chlifa the whole time all he could think about was Nada, which makes him to judge Maha according to what Mrs. Farhat thinks of her “a bad seed, I tell you! A bad seed that will come to no good!”(pg 52- The Road to Chlifa) He doesn't get to know her because he was to busy thinking of Nada that makes him dislike Maha, which then afterwards causes Maha's death. Even though it was Maha who was continuously bringing things about Nada which made Karim start asking questions to him self and won paying attention to those. Also Karim problems caused him to think uncleanly because his lack of realizing that he was not the only one who suffered Nada death he seem to be unable to understand that Nada was important to Maha as well. Those are conflicts that Karim in Road to Chlifa goes through. As for Peter he suffers from these visions that show up very often that affects him greatly. They cause him to do things that he seems to have no control over. For instance “Peter wanted to scream but his throat was sealed so tight he could barely breathe, he to run but his legs wouldn't move” (pg102-Dreamspeaker)this tells you that he mind even effects his physical ability this clearly show that his visions are extremely powerful they have the ability to take over him. The visions that continuously show seem to shape as he goes through life in the beginning he didn't know what it look like, but then afterwards hearing about the myths and stories that the old man talk about like the “ the lights and little noises are the Stlalacum. Sltlalacum are strong medicine, strong magic.”(pg 72-Dreamspeaker) or the myth of the ravens not being born bad “no sir, not even the raven was born bad” (pg73-dreamspeaker) and then throughout the stories heard the visions of the characters in the stories take form. Peter's visions also affect his judgments he is not able to see that the visions he had are the ones that make the decisions for him it makes him do things that he doesn't for example “Peter knew what it was, and he was afraid to look behind in case he saw the thing coming across the dew-damped grass, both heads aiming for him.”(pg24) The vision made him for sure no to go back it clearly forced him to run away because he was afraid and couldn't face it. Peter may had conflicts with his visions but they also helped him understand what he needed to do in order to over come fear and learn the true meaning of family and decision making.

The other conflict that both protagonists go through is man vs. society. The society in war going on in Karim's life affects his goal of living life normally after it. Society creates a barrier for Karim when they decide to go to Chlifa all the routes they intended to take were blocked and this obstacle forced them to nature “Children, what would you say to a real trip through the wildness, far from roads and their danger?” (pg 70-Road to Chlifa) Milad knew that the wildness would be better than the road they intended to take because they were more dangerous than wildness. Society has become so dangerous that they can't even be near society that if they did it would be fatal. The society that they once knew is now the major cause of their lives it is the biggest conflict which to now they must seek somewhere else to live that is no where near society it's self. Society has not only made them leave but it has destroyed there dreams of living a normal life there. The two suffer the conflicts of society greatly that they go through a great deal of suffering because it has killed the things they loved most Karim's love and Maha's sister which causes lots of other conflicts that they now also have to face to reach there goal of finding a better place. In Dreamspeaker Peter also suffers from society it conditions of living without being bothered has drove him to seek a normal life else where. One reason he has to leave was because of the people when the blame him for breaking the window “A sudden crash of the window glass and Peter froze. He could feel eyes burning into his back, feel fingers pointing at him. New kids fault”(pg20-Dreamspeaker)