There are a number of conflicts in the short story "The
Lost Beautifulness" by Anzia Jezierska.
One of the
conflicts in the story exists between Hanneh and her husband. While she has scrimped and
saved her own money, pennies at a time, to paint the kitchen for her son's homecoming,
and has been complimented on the wonderful results by neighbors and friends, her husband
has nothing but complaints for her. Why did she waste the money that should have been
set aside for a rainy day? Why did she spend time and money to improve the apartment
which does not belong to them?
Another conflict, the major
one in the story, is the landlord's demand that Hanneh must now pay more rent because
the apartment looks so much better. He sees not beauty for beauty's sake, but realizes
that he can now charge more money for the rooms, and expects that if Hanneh and her
husband cannot pay it, they must leave. This conflict devastates Hanneh and robs her of
all the joy she received from the work she did; and at the end, she and her belongings
are thrown out into the street.
Another conflict exists
between Hanneh and society. She believes that what the landlord is trying to do is
ethically wrong. In this land of democracy, she believes the courts should be able to
address and fix the problem, but they rule in favor of the landlord. Hanneh is
disenchanted and distraught. Her vision of democracy has become nothing but an illusion,
a dream. For in truth, democracy means nothing to her as she and her husband struggle to
get by, and ultimately lose their home.
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