Conflicts

The exam question asks you to focus on the conflicts in the short story “The Inevitable” by Daniel A. Hoyt. The narrator is involved in two main conflicts – one with the former police officer, and one with her teenage daughter. 

The conflict between the narrator and the former police officer is closely connected to the narrator’s prejudice against the police, which is fueled by the news of Michael Brown being killed by a white police officer. After she finds out about the incident in the news, the narrator unknowingly starts a conflict with a former police officer from the audience by praising the rap song “Fuck tha Police” (ll. 20-21). The former police officer insults her, and,their conflict continues after the ...