conflict

=Conflict=

A conflict is the struggle that grows out of the interplay of two opposing forces. (Harmon and Holman) There are generally two types of conflict, internal and external.

**The struggle that occurs within the character.**
- Kate Chopin __The Awakening__ Internal struggle occurs within the character of Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of the novel. Edna is a woman who attempts to assert her individuality and free herself from social norms. She goes beyond social boundaries but is still held back by traditional Victorian ideals. Edna cannot
 * __Examples__**:

- Jean Rhys __Wide Sargasso Sea__ Antoinette, the female protagonist, suffers from an internal conflict through her racial and cultural difference. She is stranded between two vastly different surroundings and cultures; Antoinette is a white Creole, born of English descent, who grows up in Spanish Town, Jamaica. Antoinette is unable to identify herself with either culture, thus she continually struggles to find a sense of belonging in a community.

- Albert Camus __The Stranger__ Salamano, a neighbour of the main character Meursault, struggles with his ability to show his love to his dog. He abuses the dog however when the dog runs away one day, Salamano is visibly crushed and struggles with coping to live without his pet. His cocker spaniel was his only companion, and without him Salamano felt useless and invisible. - Garcia Marquez __Chronicle of a Death Foretold__ Angela Vicario has an internal struggle to whether she should tell her fiance Bayardo San Roman that she wasn't a virgin before her wedding night and even contemplated to fake her virginity. To fake her virginity she were to go through pain and at the end she decided she didn't want to go through with it and hope Bayardo San Roman didn't find out; unfortunatly that failed.

- Between a person and another person (usually between protagonist and antagonist)
__The Awakening:__ A conflict exists between Edna Pontellier and Leonce Pontellier. As Edna undergoes a transformation to freely express herself, her husband continually attempts to control her by constantly conforming her to the typical Victorian woman who places domestic work and family before anything else.

__Wide Sargasso Sea:__ Antoinette and Rochester's marriage is a volatile relationship that depicts the ideas of patriarchy. Rochester tries to control his wife, seeing her as a possession. In marrying Antoinette, Rochester intended to exploit her wealth. As a white colonizer, he saw Antoinette's Creole identity as inferior, thus it gave him the reason to dominate her. By calling her multiple names (Bertha, Marionette), he slowly strips her of her identity. __Chronicles of a Death Foretold:__ There is conflict caused between Santiago Nasar and the Vicario twins, Pedro and Pablo. As soon as the twins find out, Santiago Nasar took their sisters Angela Vicario away from her before her wedding night, they went into a rage and ever since then were plotting to kill Santiago Nasar. Nasar doesn't know that they are planning on killing him and doesn't know what is going on until the twins stab him.

- Between a person and society
Flannery O' Connonr - __A Good Man Is Hard to Find__: The Misfit in this short story is an example of how a conflict can exist between a character and society. As a serial killer, the Misfit, as his name suggests, does not fit into society. He is feared, judged and misunderstood by everyone - which fuels his hatred against society. The Misfit feels as though he was framed for a crime he did not remember committing, and he has no trust in anyone.

Flannery O' Connor - __Good Country People:__ Hulga, emerges from the story as an ugly and crippled woman with a glass eyeball. Shunned by society because of her physical disabilities, Hulga is portrayed as a victim. Tricked and deceived by a man who sells bibles, she remains an outcast of society.

Albert Camus - __The Stranger:__ Meursault is first seen as a normal individual with different views than society, however when he shoots an Arab, he is put on trial and judged for all the things society finds he did wrong. Such as showing wrong emotions at his mothers funeral and even after his mothers feeling. Society makes him out to be a horrible person when in reality, he was just being himself.

**- Between a person and nature**
Wislawa Szymborska - __The Acrobat__: "Solo, or even less than solo,/ less, because he's crippled, missing / missing wings" (10-13) The acrobat defies gravity (nature) the moment he is in the air, despite his disability. The acrobat cannot be dependent on anyone, he has to fight against the disadvantages he was left with.