REELING AND WRITHING IV: CONFLICTS

REELING AND WRITHING
or,
Miss Dermark's 2015 Advent Calendar

DAY FOUR

CONFLICTS
or,
THE HEROES OF OUR TIMES AND THE DEMONS IN THEIR MINDS

Every narrative is based on a conflict. No conflict, a tiresome monotone humdrum to tell.
There can be more than one of these kinds of conflict in a story, which, according to Quiller-Couch, would qualify as one of these:

• Self vs. Self (most frequent in the tragedy genre, where generally the hero/ine's own flaws [often combined with the intervention of chance --Self vs. Fate, Self vs. Nature-- and/or of schemers --Self vs. Other--] cause their undoing; can also occur in a happy-ever-after story for a cathartic effect, as it does in Inside Out, Brave, or Vaiana)
• Self vs. Other (in most fiction with an individual [or family: think the Gaunts/Malfoys, the Toulonchamps in Alpen-Rose, the Thénardiers... the Lannisters, however, are a completely different kettle of fish, see below!] antagonist, often a classic-style antagonist driven by lust for power/status or by revenge --the two most common motivations)
• Self vs. Society (in most fiction with a collective antagonist, which is generally [but does not need to be] the established authorities, whether secular, religious, or within the family/clique, if not the "profane crowd" led by prejudice/first impressions)
• Self vs. Technology (Luddite stories about humans being replaced by robots, clones, mutants, animals evolved into sapience [apes, newts... this being a borderline case between this conflict and Self vs. Nature]... whatever; also AI gone horribly right, like HAL 9000).
• Self vs. Nature (survival stories about staying alive in an austere environment, also damsel-and-dragon plots from Perseus/St. George to JAWS and similar Gaia's Revenge tales --animals evolved into sapience being a borderline case between this conflict and Self vs. Technology--, also stories about struggling through illnesses, whether the ailing/injured person lives or dies in the end)
• Self vs. the Supernatural (encounters with the fair folk, trolls, ghosts, demons... very often breaking an oath, or eating the food of the otherworld, serves as the catalyst for such conflicts)
• Self vs. Divinity/Fate (may overlap with Self vs. Self, as seen in the tragedy genre above)
• Self Caught in the Middle (of other characters'/factions' conflict: this adds far more ambiguity to the struggle and makes it far more lifelike [think Westeros!])

Think, for instance, of Romeo and Juliet: their struggle is of Self vs. Self, Self vs. Society, and Self Caught in the Middle. These lovers have got issues with themselves, with their elders, and with having for prospective in-laws the enemies of said elders (supporting the idea that joining their houses would bring peace at last). Plus Self vs. Fate, if we take seriously the fact that they're predestined never to succeed...
Or Heart of Darkness, where you've got all of these kinds of conflict at once. The same applies to A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones.