Conflict REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
is the part of plot of story. It means conflicts that happen in story are arranged and connected to make how the story is developed from beginning to the end of story.
Conflicts in literary work must not like fighting in real world. According to Perrine 1984: 42:
“Conflicts-a clash of actions, ideas, desires, or will. Characters may be pitted against some other person or
group of persons conflict of person against person; they may be in conflict with some external force-
physical nature, society, or “fate” conflict of person against environment; or they may be in conflict with
some elements in their own natures conflict of person against himself or herself. The conflict may be
physical, mental, emotional, or moral.” Based on this explanation, conflicts can be divided into external conflicts
and internal conflicts. External conflicts are situations, conditions, things, or events that come from the outside of characters. This kind of conflicts may
happen as the effects of what the characters have done in story. It can lead the characters to have internal conflict and sometimes can change the personality of
the characters in the end of the story. External conflict in literary work does not mean like war, battle, or fight in real word. It may simply like debate between two
persons who have different idea or will. It may also simply like the struggle of a person who lives in isolated island. Person against person, person against
environment and person against nature are three kinds of external conflict that characters face in literary work.
The conflict in which characters against their own nature, is called internal conflict. It forces the characters to face problems arose within themselves. This
may happen because of the external conflict, guilty or the clash between
characters’ will or desires and reality. Internal conflict commonly relates to characters motive, feeling or desires of characters and implicitly pictured by the
author. Story which present characters’ high motives or desires will have more intense internal conflict than external conflict. This conflict affects characters both
emotionally and mentally. Effects of internal conflict may be greater than external conflict. Characters which cannot solve his internal conflict will end up in
depression. Characters may experience single conflict or multiple conflicts. Single
conflict means that characters only face one kind of conflict whether against person, nature, environment, or against their own nature. It is easy to identify if
character only face single conflict than multiple conflict. Characters which face multiple conflicts will experience several kinds of conflict at same time, whether
they aware of being involve or not. Perrine 1984: 42 assets that: In some stories the conflict is single, clear-cut, and
easily identifiable. In others it is multiple, various, and subtle. A person may be in conflict with other persons,
with social norms or nature, and with himself or herself, all at the same time, and sometimes may be involved in
conflict without being aware of it.
But, according to Perrine 1984: 42 excellent interpretive fiction has been written utilizing all four of these major kinds of conflict.