Round 2 World Literature Cup, Lebanon vs Estonia

“Kick off is set for the near paragraphs with Lebanon playing Estonia taking the field in today’s friendly, Estonia being the challenger to Lebanon after Lebanon’s sweep of Cabo Verde last week,”the commentator announced over the speaker. “ Let’s have a look at the starting lineups for today’s matchup. Estonia are starting Death among the Icebergs by Mehis Heinsaar, while Lebanon are starting Vienna by Sahar Mandour.”

Death among the Icebergs is a short story following two adults named Conchita and Aale. Conchita has recently moved into town and soon later falls deep in love with Aale. Conchita soon leaves and Aale is hit with “cardiac arrest,” and is frozen, eventually passing away.

Vienna follows a general chapter of a young woman’s love life and the different adversaries she faces.

In this match up, I will be determining the winner by their use of elements of fiction. These include; Theme, Conflict, and Characters. I will also be adopting a soccer goal type scoreboard where each element amounts to one goal.

Theme

the main theme discussed in Death among the icebergs is love and relationships. I believe that this short story does do this to a good standard as it leaves you wondering what happened at the end in a unique style. Throughout the body of the piece we have an in depth insight into Conchita’s thoughts on her relationship with Aale. We can see their witness shift in dynamic from originally cursing herself for falling stupidly in love with her, to her “not being able to leave (Aale’s) side. We also get an insight into the area of love that is not discussed enough in society and that is the heartbreak, which Aale experienced much to the towns peoples confusion. The most prevolent theme in Vienna is identity and this is shown through the protagonists thoughts about the name of her yet to be born child, and how her relationship blossomed with her father due to him picking a suitable name. Although they are both great stories, I am going to award this goal to Estonia as I believe that the more in depth look into relationships and love was much stronger than the theme of identity discussed in Vienna. 1–0 Estonia’s way.

Conflict

The main conflict discussed in Death among the icebergs is Aale’s mental state after Conchita’s departing, and also the conflict on Conchita’s mind debating whether or not to pursue Aale in a romantic manner. Vienna’s conflict is of her arguments with her late spouse over the name of their child and also her trying to cover up her adultery. Comparing Death among the Icebergs with Vienna only taking into account the level of intensity created via conflict, I will award this goal to Vienna as it utilises stronger emotions to create a sense of conflict. 1 all

Character’s

Death among the Iceberg mainly revolves around the medium between the two main characters. This creates a strong sense of character between the two and it is simple for the viewer to identify the characters motives. Vienna has multiple characters, with their own narratives in of itself,giving the reader a more relatable scene as a lot of the characters thoughts are not fully delved into, allowing the reader to make assumptions in a way that keeps them invested in the story. Vienna does this in an interesting manner, and thus I believe Vienna takes this goal. 2–1 Vienna’s way.

“As the match draws to a conclusion, Lebanon see off the final minutes kicking the ball around the back half of the field. Lebanese fans storm the field as the referee blows the final whistle. Lebanon have won this match 2–1 and will move onto the next match next week,”