The relationship between the parents

One of the tasks from the English B HF exam from 18th of August, 2017 asks you to write an analytical essay focusing on the relationship between the parents in the short story “Logjam” by Ron Wallace, Peterson and Christine.

In the story, the parents’ relationship is defined by tension and conflict, caused by their different personalities and perspectives, but also by their lack of honest communication.

Firstly, Peterson and Christine have different views on what a holiday means. While Christine believes it should be active and exciting, Peterson prefers relaxing: “Christine despised idleness. A vacation for her meant driving fourteen hours one day to get somewhere so you could hike fourteen hours the next.” (ll. 20-21); “He would have preferred to sit on the beach or leisurely beachcomb, or spend a day poking around the Provincetown or Bar Harbor shops.” (ll. 25-26)

Tension is caused by the fact that Christine tends to impose her views, while Peterson simply agrees to whatever she wants, trying to avoid open conflict. This is because Christine likes arguments and Peterson does not:

Her theory was that it was best to get it all out; confrontation therapy appealed to her. His theory was that it was better to keep it all in; to articulate a problem, where the merest shadow of one existed, was to give that shadow palpable shape and energy. (ll. 67-68)

Furthermore,...