Internal and external relationship in z for zachariah

Z for Zachariah written by Robert O’Brien displays internal and external conflicts throughout the novel. The internal conflict built up character development as it showed the characters personality and thoughts, we discovered early in the story that Ann is a very powerful and intelligent teenager. The external conflict made a big dramatic impact on the book, as it showed the clash between the two main characters with Mr Loomis being the stereotypical male trying to overpower Ann physically. Both internal and external conflicts were both very important in different ways and are both vital for this story.

Z for Zachariah was a very dramatic book due to the amount of external conflict between Mr Loomis and Ann. Ann had to face Mr Loomis while he was in various different states of mind, many when he was extremely angry. Mr Loomis wanted to over power Ann, and with him being a male and Ann being a female he assumed that he would be physically stronger. There were several physical acts in which Mr Loomis tried to overpower Ann, it started off on June the 24th when she asked him if he was married and he ‘grabbed’ her hand, then 4 days later on June the 28th Mr Loomis attempted to sexually assault Ann while she was sleeping, fortunately for Ann he was unsuccessful as Ann had awakened when she felt his presence in the room. Ann had to run from the house and live in the cave, trying out a system to share the valley with Mr Loomis with making minimal contact. About 10 days after the attempted sexual assault Ann walks up to the house about to start her daily routine, and stands in front of the house as she needed to ask Mr Loomis a question about keys for a padlock. It was then when was shot in the ankle by Mr Loomis from the upstairs window. These external conflicts between Mr Loomis and Ann made a big dramatic impact on the story. The external conflicts made the novel very suspenseful and exciting.

The internal conflict in Z for Zachariah was a key factor for