Types of Conflict in Literature

Why This Matters

Every story you'll analyze in English 10 is built on conflict—it's the engine that drives plot, reveals character, and delivers theme. When you're asked to write about a text, you're almost always being asked to identify what kind of struggle a character faces and what that struggle reveals. Understanding conflict types isn't just about labeling; it's about recognizing how authors use tension to say something meaningful about human experience.

The seven conflict types fall into distinct categories based on whether the struggle is internal or external and whether the opposing force is human, natural, or abstract. On essays and exams, you're being tested on your ability to identify these conflicts, explain how they create tension, and connect them to larger themes like identity, power, and morality. Don't just memorize the labels—know what each conflict type allows an author to explore and why a writer might choose one over another.

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Internal Conflict: The Battle Within

Internal conflict happens entirely inside a character's mind. It's the quietest form of struggle but often the most psychologically rich. Authors use internal conflict to develop complex, three-dimensional characters and explore themes of identity, guilt, and growth.

Person vs. Self

• Centers on a character's internal struggle—doubts, fears, moral dilemmas, or competing desires that create psychological tension
• Drives character development through moments of self-discovery, forcing characters to confront who they are versus who they want to be
• Manifests through decision-making and emotional turmoil, often revealed through internal monologue, flashbacks, or symbolic actions

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External Conflict with Other Characters

When conflict involves another person, the stakes become visible and dramatic. These struggles externalize abstract tensions—power, loyalty, justice—into concrete confrontations readers can follow.

Person vs. Person

• Pits two characters against each other—through rivalry, betrayal, or opposing goals—creating the most direct form of dramatic tension
• Reveals character motivation by forcing characters to act, react, and make choices under pressure
• Highlights themes of loyalty, power, and morality through relationships that test characters' values and commitments

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External Conflict with Larger Forces

Some conflicts pit individuals against forces much bigger than themselves—nature, society, or abstract concepts like fate. These struggles often carry symbolic weight, representing humanity's relationship to the world beyond individual control.

Person vs. Nature

• Forces characters to confront the natural world—storms, wilderness, animals, or survival situations that test human limits
• Emphasizes human vulnerability while exploring themes of resilience, adaptability, and respect for forces beyond human control
• Often carries symbolic meaning, with nature representing chaos, indifference, or the untamable aspects of existence

Person vs. Society

• Creates tension between individual and collective—characters challenging laws, norms, traditions, or institutions that constrain them
• Explores themes of justice, freedom, and conformity by showing what happens when personal values clash with social expectations
• Reflects historical and cultural critique, making this conflict type especially common in dystopian fiction and protest literature

Person vs. Fate/God

• Pits characters against destiny or divine will—forces that seem predetermined and inescapable, regardless of human effort
• Raises questions about free will and whether characters can change their outcomes or are trapped by forces beyond their control
• Often leads to tragedy or profound realization, making this conflict central to classical literature and existentialist works

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External Conflict with the Unknown

These conflicts involve forces that exist outside normal human experience—whether technological or supernatural. Authors use these struggles to explore fear, ethics, and humanity's relationship to what it cannot fully understand or control.

Person vs. Technology

• Creates tension between humans and machines—artificial intelligence, surveillance, or technological systems that threaten autonomy
• Raises ethical questions about dependence, control, and what we sacrifice for progress and convenience
• Reflects contemporary anxieties, making this conflict increasingly relevant in modern and science fiction texts

Person vs. Supernatural

• Introduces conflict with forces beyond natural explanation—ghosts, gods, curses, or mythical beings that defy rational understanding
• Explores themes of belief, fear, and the unknown by confronting characters with what they cannot explain or control
• Creates suspense and raises existential questions about humanity's place in a universe that may contain more than we can comprehend

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two conflict types both involve forces larger than the individual but differ in whether that force is natural or human-constructed?

2. If a character struggles with guilt over a past decision throughout a novel, which conflict type is primary, and what theme might the author be exploring?

3. Compare and contrast Person vs. Fate and Person vs. Self—how do both involve questions of control, and what distinguishes where the "battle" takes place?

4. A dystopian novel features a protagonist fighting against a totalitarian government. Identify the primary conflict type and explain what this choice allows the author to critique.

5. An FRQ asks you to analyze how conflict reveals character. Which conflict type would best showcase internal character development, and which would best showcase a character's values through external action?