My Man Bovanne

“Clever Manka”

The short story of” Clever Manka,” written by an anonymous writer delves into

Compromise vs. Confrontation. The Burgomaster expresses interest in Manka after her

She solves several riddles for him. The Burgomaster then takes Manka as his wife, but

with conditions and impending consequence if she did not comply with them. He states,

“You are not to use that cleverness of yours at my expense. I won’t have you interfering

in any of my cases. In fact, if you give advice to anyone who comes to me for judgment,

I’ll turn you out of my house at once and send you home to your father.”

This is where the inner conflict for Manka begins she has to choose to

compromise her qualities of cleverness in order to avoid future confrontation with her

spouse. Manka makes the choice and busied her self with housework in order not

interfere with his cases.

Manka suppresses her qualities of cleverness until she is presented with

a case she feels her husband mistakenly ruled upon. Manka does not compromise and

finds courage and confidence to stand up for what she thinks is right. Although Manka

had to face confrontation after her husband finds out she interfered in his ruling. Manka

uses