Why conflict is important for the meaning of the story?
1 Answer
Conflict is the story - without conflict there is no reason to relate the events.
Explanation:
A story - any story - is a tale of conflict. Without conflict, a story ends up being a list of uninteresting events.
Let's take movies and TV shows as an example. There is always the characters we love to hate, the obstacles a character needs to overcome, the moral and ethical conflicts within a character's actions, feelings, and thoughts. Even shows that have perfect things going on within them will have conflict with the outside world.
Conflict isn't part of the story - it is the story. The people, location, events... all the details simply add to the understanding of the watcher/reader.
I'm reminded of an old Cheech and Chong sketch where a student is supposed to read aloud his essay on what he did on his summer vacation:
The first day of my summer vacation. I got up. I got dressed. I went downtown. To look for a job. I hung around a drugstore.
The next day of my summer vacation. I got up. I got dressed. I went downtown. To look for a job. I hung around a drugstore.
The next day of my summer vacation. I got up. I got dressed. I went downtown. To look for a job. I hung around a drugstore.
And it just goes on... there is no conflict. There is no story - it's simply a retelling of uninteresting events. (The thing that makes the sketch work is the conflict between the teacher and the student/class. If you listen to the video, it takes a minute or two to get to the part I'm referring to).
