Addario’s unique career as a female war photojournalist greatly influences not only the way that others view her, but the way she views herself. Of course, most people have experienced the feeling of misplacement whether it be attending a new school or deciding to attend a gathering where everybody knows each other for the first time, but few can imagine the chronic lack of belonging for someone whose career automatically defines them as “different.” The conflict for Addario arises in the fact that her unique background makes it nearly impossible for her to find somewhere in which her interests and stories can be truly appreciated instead of being found eccentric.
An instance of Addario’s conflict with having to be around people so different from her is displayed in chapter 8, where she is attending Paul’s friend’s birthday party. During the celebration, she writes that she feels extremely out of place because of how much her background and experiences differ from those of the other people at the party. She even mentions that her clothes aided in making her stick out like because she says that a party in New York requires, “fitted jeans, a stylish top,” and, “a pair of high heels.” This creates conflict for Addario because despite her strong feelings for Paul, she begins to feel that being with him may not work because they lead such different lives.
From the reader’s perspective, Addario becomes much more relatable because of her inner conflict with feeling out of place. Since this is a problem that most people experience at least once in their lives, readers can start to see Addario as more of an actual person than a character. I myself am able to relate to her experiences better because I have recently been put in a position where I feel slightly out of place: coming from Tennessee to Penn State for college.
My passion blog, as its central theme is to raise awareness about nature’s beauty in order to increase efforts towards keeping it that way, could benefit from a display of conflict with taking the first step toward cleaning up the environment. Everyone says that they want the environment to be healthy, but they don’t know where to start. I could introduce some ideas in my blog that detail effective first steps for improving the environment.