We look at the importance of conflict in stories, books and films, and I show you the four main types of conflict. What kind of conflict will you use in your next story?
why is conflict important?
how would this be for a story?
Once upon a time there was a sweet baby boy who grew up in a nice family. He turned into a lovely man. He got married and had children. He and his wife got on very well and their children were adorable. No-one ever fell out and the whole family smiled all the time.
Our young man turned into an old man. His beautiful grandchildren came to see him regularly and he sang them nursery rhymes and played card games. Eventually he became a very old man and lived out his days in the company of his devoted wife.
what about this one?
Once upon a time there was a sweet baby boy. When he was only two years old, a plane rumbled over the house and dropped a bomb. The house collapsed and his parents were killed. No-one came to rescue him though he cried and cried.
Night fell and his cries became fainter. Suddenly there was a scrabbling noise in the rubble. Someone was coming. The little boy was almost too weak to open his eyes. A wet nose sniffed at his face and a long tongue licked away his tears…
I hope you agree that there is no problem, no conflict in the first story. It's BORING.
when a problem comes along in the second story, we immediately start thinking about what will happen to our little boy...
the four main types of conflict
man v man
This is where the main character (protagonist) struggles with an antagonist. The antagonist may be a baddy or may just have goals that are in conflict with those of the protagonist.
man versus nature
These could be disaster stories, somehow battling the odds. It could be about averting an environmental disaster, like the end of all bees and the knock on effects of that as in The Bee Movie. There could be a big storm, or treking through Antarctica or an android hurtling towards earth.
man versus society
This could be about a battle for human rights or the fight against an oppressive society.
man versus self
This is where the protagonist has some kind of internal struggle or INNER CONFLICT. It might be a fear, an addiction or issues with their emotions.
what kind of conflict...
Have a look at the following examples and see if you can work out what the conflict is.
(Note: I’ve picked one of the main conflicts in each example, can you tell whether it’s man v.man; man v. nature; man v. society; or man v. self?)
a: finding nemo
Nemo is a baby clown fish who has been warned by his father to stay away from the powerful currents that will pull him away from the safety of the reef. Nemo, of course, disobeys his father and gets swept out to sea. Then he is fished by humans and taken to a fish tank in a dentist’s surgery.
Nemo’s dad has to battle his way through the oceans to find him…
(Which kind of conflict am I describing here? See below for the answer.)
b: mulan
It is ancient China. One man in every family is conscripted to fight the Hunn. Mulan’s father is too old and too ill to be fit for war but only men can sign up. Mulan sneaks out and joins the army in her father’s place to save him from being sent off. She proves over the course of the film that girls are as capable as men.
(Which kind of conflict am I describing here? See below for the answer.)
c: frozen
The young Elsa is made Queen of Arendalle but she has a problem – when she gets angry or stressed, she can’t help turning everything to ice! She runs away into the mountains to protect the kingdom. Her sister Anna has to come and rescue her, and to persuade her that she is strong enough to overcome her problems.
(Which kind of conflict am describing here? See below for the answer.)
d: harry potter and the philosopher's stone
Harry is an 11-year-old boy who has just found out that he is a wizard. A BIG BAD wizard is after him and will stop at nothing to kill him…
(Which kind of conflict am I describing here? See below for answer.)
my challenge for you...
Write a short story which uses one of the types of conflict. Show it to a friend and see if they can guess what type of conflict runs though the story!
hint:
Make sure your MAIN CONFLICT is introduce at the BEGINNING.
It should grow bigger during the rising action of the story (MIDDLE).
It must be faced head on during the CLIMAX.
And resolved during the resolution (END).
answers:
MAN V. NATURE (‘MAN’ BEING THE MAIN CHARACTER – a fish in this case!!)
MAN V. SOCIETY (This ‘man’ is actually a girl!)
MAN V. SELF (This time ‘man’ is a girl as well – too sexist!)
MAN V. MAN (wizard v. wizard!)
I hope you have found this information about conflict useful
For more about conflict see this post on problems.
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