Conflict (Brian Katcher)

 

So those of us old timers who went to school in the 1900s remember how sophomore English taught us that there were four and only four basic types of conflict:

Man vs. Man, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature, or Man vs. Himself.   

We also had to learn sentence diagramming, so the entire course was crap. But, as a literary society, are these truly the only types of conflicts? Take Back to the Future. It has elements of all those conflicts, but doesn't fit easily in any of them.

What do you call the conflict in high fantasy stories where the character fights sentient yet non human entities? When Bilbo matched wits with the dragon Smaug, it wasn't a matter of trying to win against nature. Nor was he matching wits with another man. Come to think of it, Bilbo wasn't a man either. Do we use the term 'man' for any intelligent creature, including gods, robots, aliens, etc? 

Speaking of robots, what about the dire tidings of a post-industrial society? When our hero is sick from pollution, does that fall under the umbrella of society or nature? When Charlie Chaplain's factory is automated in Modern Times, is he a victim of society or something else? Could Man vs. Machine be its own genre?

And then, of course, the universal conflict of the rebellious teenager who moves to a small town where dancing is forbidden and wants to help the local kids have fun. That's a genre all in its own.

The general list of conflict types has been amended to include vs. technology, vs. the supernatural, and a vaguer vs. destiny, fate, gods, etc.  

The important thing to remember is that there must be conflict in your story. Barring that, lots of gratuitous sex.