Conflict - Explained

Conflict is what gives your story purpose, and what drives your plot forward. Conflict can be large scale, like a war, or small scale, like a fractured family relationship.

Conflict can also be explicit, meaning that it is obvious, or implicit, meaning that the reader needs to read between the lines to figure out what the conflict is, this is a more subtle conflict that perhaps even the character themselves is not fully aware of.

For example, in the vast majority of Marvel films, there is an explicit conflict - some external force that is threatening humanity. We, the audience, can pinpoint the source of conflict easily. Implicit conflict is much less obvious, but is there all the same. For example, the classic novel Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger's main conflict is implicit (his own battle with society and himself), though the main character Holden does experience a number of smaller explicit conflicts.

Further to this, there are 6 main types of conflict that appear in most stories, watch the below video for a visual explanation.

1. Character vs. Nature - the protagonist is battling the environment (e.g. 127 Hours)

2. Character vs. Character - the protagonist is battling another (singular or multiple) antagonist(s) (e.g. any of the Marvel films, or the entire Superhero genre)

3. Character vs. Supernatural - In it's most basic sense, the protagonist battling Fate/God, though this could be expanded to include the supernatural/superhuman as in Hercules vs. The Gods. (e.g. any of the Greek myths, or more currently Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens)

4. Character vs. Society - The protagonist is battling against an overbearing society, or societal norms. (e.g. Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale or Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter)

5. Character vs. Self - The protagonist is battling themselves, their own beliefs or ideals. This often accompanies most other conflicts, where it turns out the biggest battle our hero had to win was against him/herself! (e.g. Batman, Hamlet)

6. Character vs. Technology - The protagonist must battle against some technological foe. This is the most recent addition to the list, and is becoming much more pervasive as we become increasingly dependent on technology. (e.g. The Terminator as an obvious example, though a more classical example would be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein)

Any number and combination of these conflicts may show up in a story, and no story is bound to only having one conflict. A character may have one main conflict, with a number of smaller "speed bumps" along the way. Conflict is what drives your plot forward, gives your story meaning (and excitement!), and plays into the theme which the author is building throughout. Conflict is absolutely one of the most integral parts of a story, and without good conflict you cannot have a good story!

ePortfolio Submission

Save your answer to the below prompt in your ePortfolio in the section for Module 1 Responses.

1. Think of your favourite film, show or novel. What was the main conflict? Were there any side conflicts? Would your enjoyment of the story have been lessened if the conflict had been different?