Internal and External Conflicts

1797 words 8 pages
Show More
The Scarlet Letter: Internal and External Conflicts
In the novel, the Scarlet Letter, there are four main characters, Hester Prynne, Pearl Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Prynne Chillingworth. The story goes; Hester Prynne committed the sin of adultery with the minister of their Puritan Community, Arthur Dimmesdale, the community then condemning her to wear the scarlet letter “A” for the rest of her natural life. Pearl Prynne being the product of the two sinners. In the moment, when Hester is completing the first part of her punishment, her long lost husband, Roger Prynne Chillingworth, arrives. Not wanting his arrival acknowledge Roger replaces his maiden name for Chillingworth. This situation creates a whole plot of conflicts both …show more content…

Evil then being another internal conflict created within Chillingworth. For example in chapter 10 paragraph 3 it states, “This man… pure as they deem him, - all spiritual as he seems, - hath inherited a strong animal nature from his father or his mother. Let us dig a little further in the direction of this vein!” This provides emphasizes on Chillingworth going an extra mile to fully satisfy his needs of torturing Dimmesdale with the truth. With this information this kind of gives Chillingworth a “devil-like figure” in this novel. An external conflict to support the “devil-like figure” would be his dabbling in natural chemicals and medicine. Even though it seems as harmless as a puppy or kitten it does kill. Naturally that was his cause of death in the end. A further approach to an external conflict would be the one referring back to when Hester was on the pillory. The great tension of their eye contact is a ball buster, and when he touches his lips with a finger verifying her silence, it physically shows he would have a problem with her speaking up of his presence. Arthur Dimmesdale is the minister who commits adultery with Hester Prynne. This is at upmost worst position he can be in, considering that he is a minister of a Puritan community. An internal conflict that he must deal with is his guilt. Throughout the novel, he must watch Hester suffer through the public humiliation and feels guilty that he has

Related

  • Internal and External Conflict in Hamlet
    923 words | 4 pages

    In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare conflict plays a very significant role. The play’s main protagonist, Hamlet, possesses both internal and external conflict due to the fact that he is fighting his inner conscience and suppressing his inner emotions, and he is seeking revenge on and conflicting with many other characters in the play. These internal and external conflicts this character is experiencing affect those around him. They also shape the events that occur in the drama and contribute….

    Show More
  • Judith Guest's Ordinary People: Internal & External Conflicts as They Result from the Suppression of Emotions
    1535 words | 7 pages

    Through the civilizing process, literary texts have mirrored how societies—and individuals within a society—have moved from battling conflict using external, physical forces to fighting, increasingly, with internally conceived methods, such as knowledge, social mannerisms, and communication. From the epic of Beowulf to even the most contemporary piece of literature, conflict is an unavoidable facet of human life. A significant difference to note, however, is that the battles fought in Beowulf's time….

    Show More
  • Analysis of "The Use of Force"
    1136 words | 5 pages

    Taylor Wilson Mr. McKinnon English 1001 13 September 2011 Analysis of “The Use of Force” Williams Carlos Williams applies both internal and external conflict to his short story,” The Use of Force.” The narrator struggles with how he should help cure an ill but stubborn child. Is he acting forceful because he is trying to help the patient, or is he actually enjoying being malicious towards her? To make a short story even shorter, this story is about a doctor who was called by a sick child’s….

    Show More
  • The Death of the Moth Analysis
    1517 words | 7 pages

    existence through this insignificant moth. In addition to creating empathy, Woolf uses a beautifully poetic method in getting her purpose across, which is exploring the external struggles of the moth while employing those struggles to her own personal demons. She is able to switch the narratives between external and internal conflict without the audience even realizing it. Through the use of her vivid imagery and lucid writing style, Woolf achieves this double narrative story without the readers even….

    Show More
  • Conflict in Othello
    873 words | 4 pages

    a play which contains many conflicts between the characters. The main conflicts in ‘Othello’ are between friends and foes. Othello’s inner conflict, cultural and racial differences which lead to racial judgement and discrimination, to express these conflicts; Shakespeare uses many techniques such as soliloquies, dramatic irony, imagery foreshadowing and symbolism. Amongst the main characters there are many conflicts, however the main reason for most of the conflict if Iago and Shakespeare use….

    Show More
  • Apartheid
    1038 words | 5 pages

    Apartheid Rusty Keller ENG 125 David Makhanlall October 15, 2013 Apartheid Children are often different from adults because they are often unaware of the rules that adults abide by. Nadine Gordimer held strong feelings of opposition to apartheid, which was a socioeconomic system in South Africa after 1948 that focused on the oppression and segregation of the non-white citizens who formed the majority of South Africa’s population, and her feelings are usually a dominate theme in most of her….

    Show More
  • Orion Shield Project
    2215 words | 9 pages

    failure and did indeed result in the demotion of the project manager. There were business strategy, structural, contractual, ethical, and communication issues that impacted the successful completion of the project, causing cost overruns, strained internal relationships and customer distrust and dissatisfaction. Various solutions are recommended to decrease the incidence of issues in the….

    Show More
  • Managing Quality in Partnership Working with Service Users
    1221 words | 5 pages

    Central College London Module Study Guide G: Managing Quality in Partnership Working Graduate Diploma in Health and Social Care – Level 5 Module G: Managing Quality in Partnership Working The learner will: 1 Understand differing perspectives of quality and partnership working in relation to health and social care services Partnership: empowerment; independence; autonomy; power; informed choice; staff and organisation groups eg statutory, voluntary, private, independent….

    Show More
  • Letters from Prison
    2036 words | 9 pages

    direct impact on the safety of the financial statements than the previously mentioned parties. It is the company executives and board of directors that establish company goals. These same parties then create the business environment threw the type of internal controls and motivators established in the organizational structure. If focus is to meet at short term goal at any cost with little separation of duties and communication of respect for the basic accounting concepts, it is very probable that companies….

    Show More
  • Chemical Bank
    1306 words | 6 pages

    bills to customer; Trust & Investment division involved in setting up Due bills accounts and in providing Data processing services. Finance division was responsible for Cost and profit allocation between divisions. There were two reasons led to conflict between….

    Show More

Popular Essays