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For my write-up on Stephen King’s Needful Things, I’ll focus on the feud between Nettie Cobb and Wilma Jerzyck. The feud concerns Wilma’s dislike for Nettie’s dog, who yapped a lot for a period of time.
Nettie and Wilma are different people. Nettie is timid and quiet, whereas Wilma is a type-A personality who speaks her mind, relishes confrontation, knows how to intimidate people and come across as the dominant one (i.e., she makes sure that she’s the one who gets the last word), and manipulates others (particularly her husband). Nettie is the sort of person who lets her anger simmer before she finally confronts the person who’s making her angry, and Wilma thinks that Nettie is cowardly about a direct fight and prefers instead to strike her enemies behind their back.
I tend to identify with Nettie, and it pains me that I may have to deal with the Wilma-types of the world, the people who like to run over people. How can one be shy and timid and succeed in a world that has plenty of people who are not shy and timid? Part of the battle may be to learn ways to be assertive and to stand up for oneself. Also, it may be helpful to remember that not everyone likes people who run over others. Granted, there are many people who do like and admire those types, but many people don’t.
