Year of wonders – characters encountering conflict assignment

A personal conflict Anna must deal with during the time of the plague is losing her two sons, Jamie and Tom, whom she loved. In the process of grieving, Anna has trouble sleeping, and so takes the “ poppy” drug to assist her. This physical reaction to conflict in her life proves thee hard events that she is faced with. When the poppy wears off each time, Anna always desires more, which the following quote describes “ Surely there must have been some poppy fruits hanging there among the goldenseals and the burdock? Perhaps there were already carefully prepared tinctures, put up in cupboards?

Or resin in phials such as I had stolen from Mrs. Mompellion? I determined to go straight there and see what I might be able to secure for myself. ” When Anna’s father takes up the job of grave digging for those who were unable, he becomes greedy, and charges them unreasonably high prices, and then helps himself to valuables in the household. Anna despises her father for doing this and says to him, “ You know that bale is a thieving price to charge Mrs. Martin for the hour’s toil fog burying her husband. How can you chouse the suffering so?