Conflict in Literature

Conflict:  The struggle that the main character, or protagonist, goes through in fiction or a drama. Each plot event is usually related to the conflict which is resolved in some way by the end of the work.

Two types of Conflict:  External – the main character’s struggle with an outside force or antagonist such as nature, society, fate or another character.  Internal – a struggle that takes place in the protagonist’s mind.

Protagonist:  The main or central character (the good guy)

Antagonist:  The force that acts against the protagonist (the bad guy)

The two types of conflict can be shown in the following ways:  Protagonist v/s nature: the central character battles the forces of nature (ex.: caught in a rain storm w/ no umbrella, stalked by a wild animal)

Protagonist v/s Society  The central character battles societal norms (ex.: a new student dressing differently than the other students, a person who won’t drink even though his friends are)

Protagonist v/s Fate:  The central character battles situations beyond his/her control (ex.: a 5’2” male who weighs 105 pounds wants to be a pro football player, young person who has cancer)

Protagonist v/s Another Character:  The central character battles another character in the story (ex.: Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vadar, Tweety vs. Sylvester)

Protagonist v/s Himself/Herself:  The central character has to make personal decisions about what is the right thing to do (ex.: a young person must decide whether or not to tell his parents he stole some money, a person sees a twenty dollar bill fall out of someone’s pocket and must decide whether to return it or not.)