What makes the reader look at the first page of the work of art? Someone picked up the book because of the name of the author, someone was attracted by the catchy or provocative name of the story or novel. What next? What can make you read page by page, eagerly “swallowing” printed lines? Of course the plot! And the sharper it is twisted, the more painful the experiences of the characters, the more interesting it is for the reader to follow its development.
The main component of an ideally developing plot is conflict, in literature it is a struggle, a confrontation of interests and characters, different perceptions of situations. All this gives rise to a relationship between literary images, and behind it, as a guide, the plot develops.
Definition of conflict and how it is applied
It is worth considering in more detail such a concept as conflict. The definition in the literature of a certain specific form, a peculiar device reflecting the confrontation of the characters of the main characters, their different understanding of the same situation, an explanation of the reasons for their feelings, thoughts, desires in similar or the same circumstances is a conflict. In simpler terms, this is a struggle between good and evil, love and hate, truth and falsehood.
We find a clash of antagonisms in every work of art, be it a short story, an epic saga, an epoch-making novel or a play for a drama theater. Only the presence of conflict is able to set the ideological orientation of the plot, build a composition, organize a qualitative relationship of opposing images.
The author’s ability in time to create a conflict situation in the narrative, to endow opposing images with vivid characters, the ability to defend one’s truth will surely interest readers and force them to read the work to the end. From time to time it must be brought to the highest point of passions, create unsolvable situations, and then allow the characters to successfully overcome them. They should take risks, get out, suffer emotionally and physically, causing the readers a whole heap of all kinds of emotions from tender emotion to deep censure of their actions.
What should be the conflict
True masters of the literary word allow their characters to have and defend their point of view, to deeply entrain readers with different moral values in the network of their feelings and reasoning. Only in this case the army of fans of the work will grow and replenish with lovers of the artistic word of different ages, various social strata, all kinds of levels of education. If the author managed to capture the attention of readers from the first pages and keep him on the same plot or ideological confrontation to the final point - praise and honor to him! But this happens infrequently, and if the conflicts in the works of literature do not grow like a snowball, do not involve new characters in their decision, already with their own difficulties, neither the novel, nor the novel, or the play of even the most famous can develop the initial interest in themselves. the author.
The plot should spin dynamically to a certain point, giving rise to the most unbelievable situations: misunderstanding, hidden and overt threats, fear, loss — constant dynamics is needed. What can create it? Only a sharp plot twist. Sometimes it can be caused by the unexpected discovery of a revealing letter, otherwise - by the abduction of irrefutable evidence of someone's truth. In one chapter, a hero can witness some crime or a piquant situation, in another - he himself can become the culprit of something ambiguous. In the third, he may have suspicious patrons about whom he knows nothing, but feels their presence. Then it may turn out that these are not patrons at all, but hidden enemies from the environment close to him, who are constantly nearby. Let the examples of conflicts in literature sometimes seem trite, far-fetched, but they should keep the reader in constant tension.
The impact of the conflict on the severity of the plot
The sole sufferings and tribulations of the protagonist of a work of art can cause interest and sympathy only for the time being, if secondary characters of the narrative are not involved in the conflict. The confrontation must be deepened and expanded to give the plot novelty, brightness and sharpness.
Sluggish reasoning, even about high feelings and holy innocence, can cause the reader to irritably turn over boring pages. Because
ideology is, of course, wonderful, but if everyone understands it and does not raise a bunch of questions, then it will not be able to captivate someone’s imagination, and when we pick up the book, we need vivid emotions. Conflict in literature is a provocation.
It can be given not so much by a pile of incomprehensible situations, as by the clear and precise goal of the heroes, which each of them carries through the entire work without betraying it, even when the writer throws his characters into the very heat of passion. Any of the warring parties should contribute to the development of the plot: some of them, with their wild, uncontrollable tricks, enrage the reader, others - soothe him with judiciousness and originality of actions. But all together must solve one problem - to create a sharpness in the narrative.
Artwork as a reflection of conflict situations
What else but a book can pull us out of everyday life and saturate it with impressions? Romantic relationships, which are sometimes so lacking. Traveling to exotic countries, which not everyone can afford in reality. Exposing criminals hiding under the guise of law-abiding and worthy of respect citizen. The reader is looking in the book for what bothers him, worries and interests him most of all at a certain period of time, but in real life, nothing like this happens to him or his acquaintances. The topic of conflict in literature makes up for this need. We learn how all this happens, what is felt. Any problem, any life situation can be found in books, and the whole gamut of experiences can be transferred to oneself.
Types and types of conflicts
Several characteristic conflicts are clearly expressed in the literature: amorous, ideological, philosophical, social, symbolic, psychological, religious, military. Of course, this is not a complete list, we took for consideration only the main categories, and each of them has its own list of iconic works, reflecting one or more of the listed types of conflict. So, the Shakespearean poem "Romeo and Juliet", without going into demagogy, can be attributed to the love type. The relationship between people based on love is shown in it brightly, tragically, hopelessly. The character of the drama this work reflects like no other more in the best traditions of the classics. The plot of Dubrovsky repeats a little the main theme of Romeo and Juliet and can also serve as a typical example, but we still remember about Pushkin’s wonderful story after we name Shakespeare’s most famous drama.
It is necessary to mention other types of conflicts in the literature. Speaking of the psychological, we recall Byron's Don Giovanni. The image of the protagonist is so contradictory and so vividly expresses the internal confrontation of the individual that it will be difficult to imagine a more typical representative of the mentioned conflict.
Several storylines of the novel in verses “Eugene Onegin” and masterfully created characters are typical for love, and for social, and for ideological conflicts. The clash of different ideas, claiming to be supremacy of one over the other and vice versa, pass through almost every literary creation, completely dragging the reader into his storyline and into the conflict.
Coexistence of several conflicts in fiction
In order to examine in more detail how conflicts are used in literary works, types are intertwined, it is more reasonable to take large-scale works as an example: “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy, “Idiot”, “Brothers Karamazov”, “Demons” by F. Dostoevsky, “Taras Bulba "N. Gogol, the drama" Doll House "G. Ibsen. Each reader can create a list of short stories, novels, plays, in which it is easy to trace the coexistence of several confrontations. Quite often, along with others, a generational conflict is encountered in Russian literature.
So, in “Demons”, an attentive seeker will find a symbolic, love, philosophical, social, everyday, and even psychological conflict. In literature, this is almost everything the plot rests on. “War and Peace” is also rich in the confrontation of images and the ambiguity of events. The conflict here lies even in the title of the novel. Analyzing the characters of his characters, one can find a Don Juan psychological conflict. Pierre Bezukhov despises Helen, but he is captivated by her brilliance. Natasha Rostova is happy love for Andrei Bolkonsky, but it comes about a sinful attraction to Anatoly Kuragin.The social and everyday conflict is guessed in Sonya’s love for Nikolai Rostov and the involvement of the whole family in this love, and so in every chapter, in every small A snatch it all together -. immortal, great product, which has no equal.
Vivid pictures of the confrontation of generations in the novel "Fathers and Sons"
No less admirable, like War and Peace, deserves I. Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sons. It is generally accepted that this work is a reflection of ideological conflict, the confrontation of generations. Undoubtedly, the superiority of one’s own ideas over strangers, who with equal respect defend all the heroes of the story, confirms this statement. Even the existing love conflict between Bazarov and Odintsova fades against the backdrop of an irreconcilable struggle of the same Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich. The reader suffers along with them, understanding and justifying one, condemning and despising the other for his beliefs. But each of these heroes has both judges and supporters among fans of the work. The generational conflict in Russian literature is nowhere more pronounced.
The war of ideas of representatives of two different classes is described less vividly, but this makes it even more tragic - the opinion of Bazarov in relation to his own parent. Is this not a conflict? But just which one - ideological or still more social-everyday? In one case or another, it is dramatic, painful, even scary.
The image of the main nihilist created by Turgenev from all existing works of art will always be the most controversial literary character, and the novel was written in 1862 - more than a century and a half ago. Is this not proof of the genius of the novel?
The reflection of social conflict in the literature
In a few words, we have already mentioned this type of conflict, but it deserves a more detailed consideration. In Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, he is revealed in such simple words that he so clearly appears before us from the first lines of the work that nothing else dominates him, even Tatiana’s torturous love and Lensky’s untimely death.
“Whenever I wanted to limit my home life ... What could be worse than family in the world ...”, says Eugene, and you believe him, you understand him, even if the reader has different views on the subject! Such dissimilar personal values of Onegin and Lensky, their dreams, aspirations, lifestyles - radically opposite - reflect nothing more than a social conflict in literature. This is a reflection of two bright worlds: poetry and prose, ice and flame. These two polar opposites could not coexist together: the apotheosis of the conflict - the death of a duel Lensky.
Philosophical and symbolic types of conflicts and their place in fiction
As for the philosophical conflict, it is more ideal to study it than the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, from the first minutes you will not remember. “The Brothers Karamazov”, “Idiot”, “Teenager” and further on the list of the immortal legacy of Fedorov Mikhailovich - all are woven from the finest philosophical threads of reasoning of practically all characters of his works without exception. Dostoevsky's works are vivid examples of conflicts in literature! What is the depraved (but rather ordinary for the heroes) theme of adultery, passing through the entire novel "Demons", and especially pronounced in the forbidden for a long time chapter "At Fedor". What words these addictions are justified and explained is nothing more than an internal philosophical conflict of the characters.
A striking example of symbolism is the work of M. Meterlink “The Blue Bird”. In it, reality dissolves in the imagination and vice versa. The symbolic reincarnation of faith, hope, own conviction in a mythical bird is an exemplary plot for this type of conflict.
Also symbolic are the windmills at Cervantes, the shadow of Hamlet's father at Shakespeare, the nine circles of hell at Dante. Modern authors make little use of symbolism as a conflict, but they overwhelmed epic works.
Types of conflicts in the works of Gogol
The works of the greatest writer in Russia and Ukraine are saturated with brightly marked symbolism with its features, mermaids, brownies - the dark sides of human souls. The story “Taras Bulba” differs markedly from the majority of Nikolai Vasilievich’s works in the complete absence of otherworldly images - everything is real, historically justified, and by the intensity of conflicts is not inferior to that part of the fiction that exists in each literary work to one degree or another.
Typical types of conflicts in literature: love, social, psychological, generational conflict can be easily traced in the “Taras Bulba”. In Russian literature, the image of Andrii is so verified as an example on which they are tied up so that you do not need to go into the explanations once again in which scenes they are traced. It is enough to re-read the book and pay special attention to some points. Conflicts in the works of Russian literature are used for this.
And a little more about conflicts
There are many varieties of conflict: comic, lyrical, satirical, dramatic, humorous. These are the so-called pathos, they are used to enhance the genre style of the work.
Such types of conflicts in the literature as those of the plot — religious, family, and ethnic — pass through the works of a theme relevant to the conflict and are superimposed on the whole story. In addition, the presence of a particular confrontation may reflect the sensual side of a story or novel: hatred, tenderness, love. In order to emphasize a certain line of relations between the characters, they aggravate the conflict between them. The definition in the literature of this concept has long had a clear form. Confrontation, confrontation, struggle is used when it is necessary to more clearly express not only the character of the characters and the main plot line, but also a whole system of ideas that are reflected in the work. The conflict is applicable in any prose: children's, detective, female, biographical, documentary. All
types and types of conflicts cannot be listed; they, as epithets, are numerous. But without them, not a single creation is created. The plot and conflict in the literature are inseparable.