Conflict is the driving force of any story because of how it influences the sequence of events in a plot. Conflict may occur within the character’s own mind (internal conflict) or between a character and an outside force (external conflict). No matter what way it is presented, there is always conflict in a story because without conflict there cannot be a story arc or any character development. Conflict can be broken down into four categories: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society and man vs. self. The first three types are known as external conflict, and the last type is internal conflict.
- Man vs. Man
This is the most common kind of conflict seen in fiction and in life. What is interesting about having two human characters going up against one another is that humanity is inevitably flawed. What this means is that you can add depth to your story because there may not be a clear right or wrong or both sides may believe themselves to be in the right. You can see this kind of storyline exhibited in one of the latest Marvel movies, Captain America: Civil War. Iron Man and Captain America are friends who have an immense amount of respect for one another; however, they find themselves standing on opposing sides and they have no choice but to fight for what they believe is right. This added an incredible amount of depth and complexity to these two characters as Marvel continues to move forward with this franchise. On the other hand, it can also be fun as a writer and as a reader to hear about a blatantly evil villain and how the protagonist ultimately brings that villain to justice.
- Man vs. Nature
A protagonist who is lost in the woods, or is under attack by wild animals or is fighting to survive a terrible storm is in—the person against nature conflict. There are many contemporary examples of this such as the movie The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio. There are also a few classic novels that present this conflict such as Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. What these stories all have in common is the protagonists are facing hardships in the form of natural phenomenon.
- Man vs. Society
Frequently, particularly in dystopian novels, a single protagonist may not be fighting against one antagonist, but rather an entire group of antagonists. This tends to signify that they are fighting their entire community, their country or even the world. A famous example of this can be seen in Lois Lowry’s novel, The Giver. The novel is set in a dystopian future where our main character Jonah finds that everything he thought he knew about his community is a lie. Jonah has no choice, but to escape with a baby named Gabe to save both of their lives. In this story, there isn’t a specific person who can be pointed to and labeled as the villain. Rather, the societal construct in and of itself is the villain; therefore, Jonah’s conflict is with his society.
- Man vs. Self
This conflict is largely focused on what the character is dealing internally. This could mean a lot of things: perhaps the character is struggling with fear and it is holding them back, maybe they have a difficult past or they struggle with addiction. Whatever the reason may be, internal conflict adds complexity and depth to all characters. This is because it humanizes your characters. We are all made of contradictions. We all struggle to overcome the voices in our heads telling us that we’re not good enough or talented enough. Why wouldn’t your characters face these same struggles? One of my favorite examples of man vs. self is in the character of Harry Potter. The main conflict within the series is man vs. man (Harry and Voldemort are trying to destroy one another) but there is also a sub-conflict in which Harry fears that he is like Voldemort and that he has the potential to do evil things. The reader is able to grow with Harry as he realizes the lines between good and evil are frequently blurred and, in the words of Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black, “We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”
It is important when walking away from this article that you understand that one conflict alone cannot make up a story. More than likely, your story will have one or two main conflicts and then one or two more sub-conflicts. Like I stated before, Harry Potter is not just a man vs. man story, but it is also a man vs. self and man vs. society, etc. Human conflict is messy and complicated. Your story’s conflict should be too.
