The use of conflict in stories

Innledning
The use of conflict in stories is one of the only constants about any story. Whether the conflict be internal or external, it is always present in a good story.

You might read a text about a mountain climber, and the only thing he does in the text is climb this mountain.

One might not see any concrete conflict here, but what if I told you the mountain climb itself is the external conflict and whether or not he is able to climb it is his internal conflict. Like this, conflict can be found in any story.

Utdrag
This movie, like any great story is filled with conflicts. There is external conflict between these two FBI agents and the people they investigate.

This type of conflict is what fills up the movie theatre so to speak. This type of conflict is much easier to understand and follow along with, you usually get a lot of pure fun in seeing a “chase” scene for example.

Internal conflict on the other hand is largely more interesting to me. Internal conflict can often be easy to miss when you watch a movie or read a book, but when you start actually looking for it and thinking about it, it allows us to relate to the characters on a much greater extent than we would if there was just external conflict.

One internal conflict that heightened my enjoyment of the movie was Alan Wards internal conflict.

His internal conflict lied in the whole world telling him to stop pursuing the case and just letting it be, even being threatened to stop by the KKK.

Alan had to choose between pursuing the case and endangering himself (doing the morally right thing) or stop pursuing the case, which would be a lot more safe and easier.

Even with his great internal struggle, he still persevered and did the right thing and that is what makes him a compelling character.

I believe characters with a good amount of personal conflict are relatable and often inspiring. Everyone can relate to the simple personal conflict Alan faces in the text: having to choose between what is right and difficult or doing what is wrong and easy.

So, to summarize this, external conflict is used to create the groundwork of the story and all the visuals, it is also a big part of the internal conflict.

The internal conflict is there to create a deeper sense of relatability and more importantly create a more dimensional character, in order to make the story seem realistic.

Strange Fruit is a song by Billie Holliday with similar conflicts to those of Mississippi burning. The song has inspired many people to open their eyes to the problems of racism in America.