Monday, April 19, 2010
House of Sand and Fog: The Escalating Conflict
As you have been viewing the film and noting some of the similarities to events and/or characters in Kite Runner, what do you think are some of the specific causes to the escalating conflict between the Colonel and Cathy and between the Colonel and Lester? What specific prejudices or assumptions do the characters make, limiting their inability to communicate effectively? What about the Colonel's wife and son, Cathy's mother and brother, and even Lester's wife?
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The fact that Lester told the Colonel that he was going to deport his family was one of the main causes in the huge argument between them. He feels that his family is careless and just wants to keep the house for themselves. The reason that conflict erupts between Cathy and the Colonel is because she keeps coming back to the house, and he get frustrated with her and just wants his family to be happy.
ReplyDeleteThe main cause of all these escalating conflicts between all the characters is because of communication. These characters do not take the time to discuss the house or how they could solve the problem, but rather that they both think they are right and don't back down. Cathy believes she owns the house and even though the Colonel purchased the house, she doesn't want to understand that or compromise to get the house back. The Colonel purchased the house after a long struggle trying to be something he wasn't. He bought it at a good price and doesn't believe he should give it up for more than it is worth. They will do anything not to return to Iran where things went wrong in the first place. Neither the Colonel or Cathy want to calmly discuss the situation, so communication is nonexistent. Cathy's mother and brother also do not take the time to talk to Cathy about what is really going on in her life. She begged her brother to come out to see her and he still doesn't. Her mother just asked her not to smoke and not about her life. The Colonel's wife only thinks about how others will see their lifestyle. Communication could have eliminated these problems.
ReplyDeleteSome of the specific causes I think lead to the escalating conflict are personal mindsets. The Colonel wants to live a normal life in a new country, so he rightfully, according to the government, buys a house that was up for auction. His plan was to purchase it at a good price,and sell it for four times the amount he paid for it to buy something better. The house he bought was Kathy's, who claims it was taken from her by mistake. She wants the house back because of its sentimental value, also because she is expecting company in a few days. She thinks that the Colonal is just an Arabian who wants money, but really he wants a better life for his family. The Colonel and Lester are both tied in with the government. Being that the Colonel was who he was,Lester thinks that he can reason with him, officer to officer. When that didnt work, Lester went to the race issue as an arguement. With their stubborn thoughts in mind, there is no possible way they could reason, and come to a solution over this one particular house. Thier families are all effected by this issue. The Colonels family ends up being killed. Lesters family is left alone,crying, because he decided to leave. And Kathy's family aren't there to show support,but they know something is wrong. Mindset is everything,if thoughts are closed,problems will occur.
ReplyDeleteA main concept that escalates the conflict between the Colonel and Kathy is the fact that Kathy wrongly lost her only home that was given to her through her deceased father. This results in the house having a copious amount of sentimental value towards Kathy. The Colonel cannot see things through Kathy’s eyes since he is having problems of his own. He is a very proud man working as a construction worker, making barely enough money to support his family. He does not take kindly to people talking back at him and being at a higher power than him such as Lester. His authority of being a cop poses a threat to the Colonel because he is no longer in charge. Instead of giving orders, he receives them and there is nothing he can do about it. Lester takes advantage of his authority by threatening the Colonel, which is not taken kindly. He reports to a higher power and gets Lester in trouble, which then leads to the death of the Colonel along with his family.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the movie House of Sand and Fog, I have noticed that the main conflict that arises between Cathy and the Colonel and also between the Colonel and Lester are due to the lack of communication between them. The Colonel and Cathy never have a talk about the house, Cathy only speaks to the colonel’s wife, who has limited English skills and is not able to understand very well. Also, when the colonel sees Cathy, he is not willing to talk to her because of the threats he has received from her friend Lester. Lester thinks that because the colonel’s family is foreign he has the right as a police officer to lie and threaten them with deportation. Also, we see communication issues between Cathy and her family, her mother immediately assumes that she is drinking and smoking even thought she is not. Cathy lies to her because she knows that if she tells her the truth it will cause a mess. Also, when Cathy calls her brother to ask for help, he doesn’t really listen to her and hangs up on her making her feel even more lonely which causes her to attempt suicide.
ReplyDeleteThe conflict was originally the result of a misunderstanding. Both parties laid claim on the house and no one was willing to talk. In all situations the characters fail to understand the situation the other is in. As a result false assumptions are made about personal character and even integrity. The fact that the Colonel was attempting to sell the beach house for 4 times what he paid was enough for Lester and Cathy to judge him. It seemed to them that he was a sleez ball foreigner who bought up land and sold it for outrageous amounts. This view of the Colonel made it impossible for them to compromise or communicate with him at all, allowing the situation to escalate. It is unfortunate because The Colonel was a hardworking man who provided for his family. The Colonel also failed to understand the people he was dealing with and made assumptions on their character. To him Cathy was an irresponsible person who wasted her chance at the American dream and Lester was a bully sheriff who abused power. While some of these assumptions are somewhat accurate The Colonel did not know Cathy had sentimental feelings for the house and that Lester was just coming to the aid of a friend. These views reinforced their unwillingness to talk to each other and again allowed the conflict to continue.
ReplyDeleteColonel and Cathy:
ReplyDeleteI think some specific causes to the escalating conflict between Colonel and Cathy was when Cathy first showed up at the house unannounced and because she intruded, she ended up stepping on nails and I believe that the colonel knew that Cathy was not going away easy and trouble was going to follow which is why after she showed up again unannounced he grabbed her arm violently and left a mark. Also, the colonel’s refusal to give up the house multiple times, she began basically stalking the house and then attempted to commit suicide more than 1 time. I believe she was weak but perseverant and he was strong willed but determined and the two personalities clashed.
Colonel and Lester:
Specific causes to the escalating conflict between Colonel and Lester started with Cathy. After being denied her house, Cathy told Lester the problem and Lester being an authoritative force, decided to visit the colonel and give him some “friendly” advice in regards of Cathy and her home. The Colonel knew his rights and how he was or was not supposed to be treated by an officer of the law, so he reported Lester and caused him to have conflict in his workplace. Lester became mentally unstable because his family was falling apart, he had no place to live, and there was conflict in the workplace. The Colonel was a strong man who thought things through before he acted and Lester was an unstable man with many issues that he could no longer handle so he began making irrational decisions causing him to end up in jail. Their two opposite character traits did not mix and caused conflict throughout the movie.
I believe that some of the causes to the conflict between the Colonel and Cathy is due to the fact that the Colonel seems to have to be in control all the time and seems to know what he wants out of life, yet Cathy seems to have no direction to things. Also the Colonel supposedly stole Cathy’s house, when in reality the house was taken from her because she did not keep up with what she was supposed to. The problem between the Colonel and Lester I believe is due to the fact that the men are from different cultures. Along with the fact that Lester is dealing with a lot of issues of his own, he seems to want to be the hero for Cathy and help her get her life back on track. The prejudice assumptions that are made was when Lester told the Colonel that he would have him deported if he didn’t follow his rules, when in reality the Colonel and his family were American citizens, he just assumed that because they were from a different culture that they weren’t citizens. The assumptions made by Cathy’s mom and brother were actually in fact very true, she couldn’t really handle herself all that well she was really struggling to get her life back on track and at the end things didn’t turn out how they should have.
ReplyDeleteThe arising conflict between the Colonel and Cathy occurs after Cathy loses her house to the when failing to pay taxes, although it was a mistake by the county. Soon after, the Colonel purchases the house for him and his family to live in. Cathy misses the memories she had in that house, because she grew up in that house in which her father built. After Cathy meets Lester, he gets involved and the conflict escalates to the point where he threatens the Colonel and his family to move out of the house so Cathy can buy it back. Lester and Cathy assumed that the Colonel purchased the house as an investment, however, this was not the case at all. During this time, Lester is fighting with his wife and has not spent much time with his kids at all.
ReplyDelete“My dad worked thirty years to pay this house off and I worked eight months to lose it.” This was a quote that I retrieved from the movie that Cathy stated when she lost the house her dad gave her. I think some of the specific causes to the escalating conflict between the Colonel and Cathy is that the Colonel and his family moved in Cathy’s home. Cathy’s father passed away and gave his house to Cathy and her brother. One morning Cathy was approached by the feds and was told she was going to be evicted from her home. The next morning Cathy had to move out and her house was up for sale. The Colonel took heed into this property and moved his family in shortly after. From this point on, this is when the conflicts between the Cathy, the Colonel, and Lester began. Cathy and Lester thought of the Colonel and his family as immigrants from Iran that didn’t know anything, but all Colonel was trying to do was move his family to a better place because of the war that was going on in their hometown. The Colonel thought of Cathy as an American girl who was lazy and irresponsible because the way she would present the whole situation about the house. He thought of Lester as a police who was a bully and unworthy. For instance, when Lester came to Colonels house one evening and talked to him about selling the house back to the rightful owner. He stated to Colonel “I have friends in the deportation office,” basically threatening Colonel and his family that he would get them deported back to his home country. This is why Colonel viewed Lester the way he did. Colonel was always in charge back in his hometown, Iran, which made it hard for him to talk situations out with others. He always wanted to feel like he was in charge, which made it ineffective for them to communicate.
ReplyDeleteThe conflict between Cathy and Berani escalates because Cathy wants her house, which was taken from her because of a mistake, and Berani wants to sell so that he can take care of his family. Both of them will not stop fighting for the house because they both have strong reasons for keeping them. The conflict with Lester and Berani escalates because Lester has developed feelings for Cathy and will defend her. He also thinks that Berani wants to flip the house for his own gain. Berani thinks that Cathy is crazy and will not let go of the house, Cathy and Lester both believe that Berani is only trying to make a profit, and Lester believes that since the Berani family is foreign, they don’t know much about American and he can just threaten to deport them.
ReplyDeleteCathy is evicted from her house and shortly after Colonel soon comes in and buys it. Colonel and Cathy had more problems that went on beyond the house. They both judged one another based on appearances rather than finding out the truth about one another. Cathy believed the Colonel was a foreigner who saw her house as an investment to make himself richer than he already was. She believed he was a greedy cold-hearted man. However, the truth was far from it, he was actually not rich and worked hard for every penny he earned. He saw Cathy as a lazy person who did not pay her taxes and took everything she had for granted until it was taken from her. He did not realize she had a lot of personal issues like her husband leaving her and her dad dying. The colonel also misjudges Lester, who he sees as a police who misuses his power to get what he wants. Lester also thinks just as badly of the Colonel who he sess as an abusive man who wants the house out of greed. Colonel's wife and son also misjudge Cathy, but they are not as rude to her as the Colonel. If they could just express themselives correctly and explain each other their situation more throuhgly then they could have avoided their tragic ending.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, House of Sand and Fog, several conflicts escalated resulting in the final "solution" as a result of a lack of communication. All of the characters in the film seemed to be holding onto a memory or lifestyle that they refused to let go. Their inability to release those aspects of their lives caused the escalating conflict among the Colonel and Cathy. Likewise, conflict escalated between Lester and the Colonel because they were unable to let go of an aspect of the past. Cathy is a grieving daughter in the film who misses her father. Her father worked strenuously to buy that house and it took her eight months after his death to lose it! Cathy’s love for her father and appreciation for all of his hard work wouldn’t allow her to willingly give up her home. Unlike what Cathy and Lester had assumed Mr. Behrani was a gentle man, charismatic and compassionate. Mr. Behrani didn’t intend to shatter Cathy’s life, he simply wanted to sell her home at a greater price so he could afford to send his child to college and afford the lifestyle he had in Iran. Mr. Behrani’s ambition to gain his life and pride back stemmed from his inability to let go of the life he possessed in Iran. Conflict escalated between Lester and Mr. Behrani because he was passionate about getting her house back. He was willing to do what ever it took to help Cathy, even when Cathy no longer desired to get her home back. The characters in the film also made certain prejudices and assumptions of each other which limited the communication among them. Cathy and Lester both assumed that the Behrani’s were inconsiderate, illegal immigrants that were trying to make profit off of Cathy’s home. Mr. Behrani assumed that Cathy was trying to stir up unnecessary conflict because he was selling her home. He wasn’t aware of her reasons for causing the conflict that she did. Had either of the characters actually communicated of the intentions they had or their reasons for their actions many of the conflicts could have been prevented. Assumptions and the inability to let go caused conflicts to rise in the film and averted solutions from being made.
ReplyDeleteWhat the main problem between all the characters in the movie is lack of communication and understanding. When a person does not communicate clearly or at all, they do not understand. In this movie, Cathy becomes a stubborn woman who chases Mr. Behrani’s family for the sake of the house that her father had owned for so long. She does not try to talk to them and prejudges them for greedy foreigners who do not know what they are up to. Mr. Behrani sees no fault of his in his house being taken away so he does not give up. He does not talk to Cathy’s lawyer, thinking it was a male. From the background he comes from, males dominate females so he does not even try to communicate with her to come to a resolution. While he is in a conflict with Cathy, Lester comes along. Lester, taking advantage of his badge, thinks he can do anything he wants because he is a sheriff. He intrudes into their house and threatens Mr. Behrani of deporting him and his family. Cathy’s mother and brother do not take time to come and ask about her problems. Her mother expects her to be someone better and her brother does not care to come and see her when she asks for help. All these conflicts surround one problem and that is communication. Maybe Mr. Behrani’s family would have not died, Cathy and Lester becoming homeless, and Lester and his family separated if they had communicated and found a solution.
ReplyDelete