The term conflict can be defined as a "struggle between two opposing forces" (Literary Devices, "Conflict"). There are four different types of conflicts that can be categorized as external and internal conflicts. Three out of four types of conflicts are external: (1) character vs. character in which the protagonist battles against the antagonist; (2) character vs. society in which the protagonist struggles against society at large; and (3) character vs. nature in which the character struggles to survive against nature. The fourth type of conflict, which is also the internal conflict, is character vs. self in which the character struggles to reconcile two opposing forces within himself/herself such as two opposing emotions, desires, or two opposing natures like good vs. evil.
In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, two major plot lines emerge with their own conflicts. One of the major plot lines concerns the Finch children's coming of age story.
As the children mature, they face and overcome obstacles. One of the obstacles they face concerns their fears, which are depicted in the characters Arthur Radley, whom the children call Boo Radley, and in Mrs. Dubose. Scout expresses their fears of these characters in the following passage found in the very first chapter:
When I was almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our summertime boundaries ... were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose's house two doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south. We were never tempted to break them. The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end; Mrs. Dubose was plain hell. (Ch. 1)
Since these are fears the children have of other characters, we can call this an external character vs. character conflict. As the book progresses, the children learn that these two people aren't truly so frightful after all. Specifically, they learn that Arthur Radley is actually a benevolent, caring person who comes to their rescue. In addition, Jem learns Mrs. Dubose is actually a very brave person worthy of being emulated.
One internal conflict Scout faces as she matures, which becomes evident in the early chapters, concerns her desire to be a tomboy in the face of the reality that she is actually a girl. At first, Scout very easily accepts her preference for her tomboy lifestyle. However, as Jem begins spending more and more time with Dill, she begins feeling left out, which makes her feel torn between wanting to act like the boys and facing her reality that she is a girl. Scout begins to hesitate to play with Jem and Dill when they begin playing what they call the Boo Radley game (Ch. 4). She hesitates partially because she is afraid Boo will see and do something to them and partially because she thinks they'll get trouble from Atticus if they keep playing. Jem and Dill call her a girl for acting so cowardly and begin going off by themselves, as Scout notes in the following passage:
They spent days together in the treehouse plotting and planning, calling me only when they needed a third party. But I kept aloof from their more foolhardy schemes for a while, and on pain of being called a girl, I spent most of the remaining twilights that summer sitting with Miss Maudie Atkinson on her front porch. (Ch. 4)
Hence, as we can see from this passage, Scout is conflicted because, though she wants to play with them, her girlish instincts that tell her not to do anything reckless have kicked in, making her feel torn between her desires and the reality of her girlish nature. Since Scout feels torn between something she wants to be and something that she is in reality, we can call this a character vs. self conflict.
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