Double entry: The Devil and Miss Prym

The Devil and Miss Prym is written by Paulo Coelho and is about Chantal, a village orphan in Viscos and a Stranger that visits with a task and a reward.

Conflict.

"What?"

Her question came out like a yell.

"Exactly what I said. I want them to commit a murder."

I chose just a few lines for the theme "conflict" because I think these three lines are all that's needed to illustrate the story's conflict. The Stranger is telling Chantal about his plan; if the people of Viscos commit a murder within seven days they will me rewarded with ten golden bars that would make the village a wealthy village. None of the inhabitants will need to work for the next thirteen years. And the Stranger will get the conclusion: we are all evil. But if a murder is now committed he will conclude that we are all good, and if Chantal's steals the one gold bar he has shown her where is buried, he will conclude there are both evil and good. Chantal is given the task to either tell the inhabitants of Viscos about the offer, or he will in the end of the week and then, if they decide to kill someone, he says; "it would probably be you". She could also run away with the one gold bar.

These lines illustrate the paragraph because it tells us about the main conflict of the story: "will the inhabitants kill someone?" And that's why these lines were chosen.

Self-realization and Relationship.

She smiled to herself, glanced to her left and blew a discreet kiss. She was not a useless woman; she had something important to do: to save the place where she has been born, even though she had no idea as yet what steps she should take.

The "she" person in this paragraph is Berta, the old widow living in Viscons. She can "see" people, and she can se the evil by the Stranger's side, and the good and evil fighting in Chantal after she have met the Stranger. This paragraph goes under both relationship and self-realization. Relationship because it illustrates Berta's love for the village and that she is very bonded to Viscos. Also, in this chapter we get to know more about Berta's husband.

But it goes under self-realization because of two reasons. One: In this chapter, we also get to learn about why Berta can see people and how she realized her purpose in life after her husband died and why she is the woman she is today.

Reason two is that Berta helps Chantal realize something important: who her enemy really is and who she is "hunting". This realization sets the story off in new direction.

Picture link