Conflict is a violent dispute or incompatibility of views positions between individuals or groups. Conflicts are normal and inevitable and inherent feature of human existence. For conflicts to be present, key issues must be taken into consideration since the analysis of issues gives or assist in the identification of parties to the conflict hence the meaning of the systems in the conflict.
As such conflict situations involve cases where individuals or parties have divergent views or incompatible aims which motivate and influence their behavior. As such, the behavior shown by the parties is what will determine the issues in the conflict leading to the conflict perceptions. Conflict perceptions may be subdivided into three categories of parties evaluations, rewards associated with the varied issues and their content. Two kinds of issues are present in conflict situations and include issues expressing a disagreement over means and the issues expressing disagreement over ends. Disagreement over means involves situations where parties in the conflict agree on the goal, but disagree on the path to follow to achieve that goal.
Disagreements of ends pertain to issues of value, characters and conflict situations where characters differ on what they want. Therefore as parties disagree widely in respect to their values beliefs and objectives, it is inherent that they will differ in respect to their perceptions to the issues in the conflict. One party may see an issue as pertaining to the right to self-determination while the other party may see an issue as pertaining to its security and survival. Hence, getting parties to agree or think in similar terms on what conflict is will go a long way in resolving the conflicts at hand.
Conflicts are classified into two categories of internal and external. Internal conflict is that which exists inside a character and the character is in a position where he struggles with morality, fate, desire and belief. Internal conflict is central to the character and can only be addressed or resolved by the character himself (www.suite101.com). On the other hand, external conflict involves a problem of the world where characters suffer external conflicts that are influenced by external forces. It occurs when characters are involved in the world woes such as a community, nature, government among other forces. External conflict can take various forms and manifest itself as man vs. man, man versus nature, man vs. society and man vs. fate (www.suite101.com).
In the setting of our short stories, it is evident that there are both internal and external conflicts. This is more so in the case of the cathedral where the narrator is having an internal conflict of man vs. self. One, the narrator is not impressed by the fact that the blind man will be coming to spend their house and is thus hostile towards him. He is also not impressed by the attenti0on that the blind man is getting from his wife and thus behaves awkwardly towards him. Though the wife of the narrator had previously worked with the blind man, when the lady was engaged tom another man, the narrator is susceptible of how physically close the blind man is to the wife. As evidenced in his writing, the narrator writes, “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Carver, 2009).
In addition, the narrator has certain perceptions about blind people, which has been influenced by the external environment such as movies and the television. He viewed them as people who rarely laugh and their movements were very slow. The narrator, therefore, did not like the idea of having a blind man in his house. This is illustrated by his writing where he writes,” My idea of blindness came from movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver, 2009). As a result of the movies, the narrator has certain expectations of how a blind man, the wife and he should behave. The extent of inner conflict of the narrator is also evident when he sees the blind man for the first time and wonders why he did not have glasses. The narrator always thought that blind men had dark glasses and wishes that the blind man had a pair. Therefore, when the blind man acts otherwise, the narrator is awed. As seen earlier, internal conflict can only be resolved by the individual himself and not any other person. This is evident in the cathedral story where the narrator lets go of his anger towards the blind man.
This is influenced by the inability of the narrator to explain to a blind man what a cathedral is and they, therefore, have to draw together, something that the narrator had not anticipated. As he states, “So I began. First I drew a box that looked like a hose. It could have been the house I lived. Then I put a roof on it. At either end of the roof, I drew spires. Crazy” (Carver, 2009). The word crazy sums the expectation of the narrator. His hostility towards the blind man is resolved through drawing by holding the blind man’s hand and drawing together. The narrator goes ahead to draw the cathedral even with his eyes closed, and his perception is wholly changed as he illustrates,” So we kept on with it. His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now” (Carver, 2009). The narrator experiences something that he has not experienced before and changed his perception about blind people.
Good People by David Foster Wallace
Inner conflict is also evident in the story of Good people by David Wallace. The story revolves around two young people who are Christians but who find themselves in an unusual position of the girl being pregnant. The young man, Dean, is having a conflict within himself and even the title “good people” is a plural in nature showing divisions within an individual. Dean wishes that Sheri could carry the burden without involving him and this is evidenced by the illustration that,” That she releases him, all claims and hopes he finishes up at P.J.C and does so good in his life and has joy and good things” (Wallace, 2012).
In addition, inner conflict is shown by the fact that the story is an imaginary conversation within Dean himself, and he even wonders whether he loves Sheri or not. This is clear where Dean reasons, “He felt a terrible inner resistance but could not feel what it was that it resisted. This was the truth. All the different angles and ways they had come at the decision together did not ever include it—the word—for had he once said it, avowed that he did love her, loved Sheri Fisher, then it all would have been transformed” (Wallace, 2012). Dean fights within him and wishes that the act never happened in the first place. He felt a terrible resistance but was unsure what it resisted.
Though they had agreed on abortion, he had never said that he loved her. The conflict is further evident between them in the sense that they are both Christians and anti-abortionists. The decision is a conflict within them where they have to decide to abort, yet it is against their belief. Dean has to weigh his options of openly of telling Sheri that he did not love her, but is unsure what her response would be in keeping their agreement. As such he wonders,” But neither did he ever open up and tell her straight out he did not love her. This might be his lie by omission. This might be the frozen resistance—were he to look right at her and tell her he didn’t, she would keep the appointment and go. He knew this. Something in him, though, some terrible weakness or lack of values, could not tell her” (Wallace, 2012).
Dean finds his belief of hell conflicting as he ponders if relay there is a hell or not. This is evident as he wonders whether a loving God would burn people in the lake of fire as illustrated.” Lane Dean had never believed in Hell as a lake of fire or a loving God consigning folks to a burning lake of fire—he knew in his heart this was not true. What he believed in were a living God of compassion and love and the possibility of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through whom this love was enacted in human time. But sitting here beside this girl as unknown to him now as outer space, waiting for whatever she might say to unfreeze him, now he felt like he could see the edge or outline of what a real vision of Hell might be. It was of two great and terrible armies within himself, opposed and facing each other, silent. There would be a battle but no victor” (Wallace, 2012).
YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN" BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
In this story, the fight is within brown himself that involves an inner war of trust and love against suspicion and distrust. Goodman has to decide whether to join in the devils ranks and to remain good at the same time. His inner conflict starts with the conflict with Faith and starts on his journey to meet the devil in the woods. This is evident as he exclaims.” "Friend," said he, stubbornly, "my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil, when I thought she was going to Heaven! Is that any reason I should quit my dear Faith, and go after her?” (Hawthorne, 2005)
The inner conflict is as a result of a mixture of unawareness, seduction, and decidedness. He has to decide whether to go to the forest to discover the dark and the black-Sabbath society and their way of living. This is a stage that he might miss in his puritan life if he decides to stay with his wife faith in the harmony of the village. At the end of the story, the conflict is magnified further where Goodman is not sure whether he slept in the forest or it was just a dream. As the writer puts it,” Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? (Hawthorne, 2005)
Works Cited
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. London: Vintage, 2009. Print.
Conflict in Literature: http://www.suite101.com/content/writing-literature-types-of-conflict-a267096 [Accessed on 2014]
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Rockville, MD: Wildside, 2005. Print.
Martorana, Charles. “The Internal Conflict in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’”. 1998. http://cityhonors.buffalo.k12.ny.us/city/rsrcs/eng/hawygb.html
Niwar A. Obaid. Literary Analysis of Cathedral by Raymond Carver. Cyprus International University, 2014. https://www.academia.edu/6063282/Literary_Analysis_of_Cathedral_by_Raymond_Carver
Wallace, David Foster. The Pale King. London: Hamish Hamilton, 2012. Print.
