Thread: We love conflict so much.

Let's face it, no one wants to read a novel about a rich, intelligent and good looking man and how he bangs four women every night. Or a happy story about a little girl that lived happily ever after on her little farm with talking animals.

Well, some people might like that kind of stuff. But generally speaking, there isn't a single successful novel without a decent, if not healthy dose of conflict. I'd argue that your average fiction character would have need quite the therapy after all they went through, but there is always the happy ever after.. right?

That applies to everything: Action takes us through the enjoyable journey of watching our heroes getting blown through walls or evading explosions, getting cut or severely injured; Mystery and horror will mind-screw the characters and the readers/viewers for the entire course of the story; Romance will inexplicably make the entire world have something against the young couple, because love is sin.

And then you have tragedies, the author is not satisfied with making the characters suffer for the entire span of the novel, but he needs to make a living hell out of the rest of their lives by dropping bridges on top of their friends and lovers.

That makes drama all the more beautiful to us, though. From an objective point point of view, that makes humanity a big bunch of sadists.

Which leads to the point of this debate: why do you love drama so much? why does it stir you up inside?

Note: I love drama and tragedy, I can't stand happy endings (they must have a "but" at the very least), and I will always root for the worst possible outcome. Which is why I'm making this topic.

Is there any such thing as getting through life unscathed? I love journeys, growth, danger, and romance and a decent villian for sure, but I like happy endings, or happy enough. The lovers need be in one piece to carry on, that is a requirement. Dragged through some hell or another and a little bent, but still capable. I don't want tragedies. Reading is escapism and there are enough tragedies in our world to last a hundred lifetimes. The idea being: Say a woman is about to be stoned to death. In our world, she probably will be. In a book, [likely a] he will be courageous enough to stop the madness or rescue her at the least. It is about being bigger and braver than we are here. About that part in us that refuses to be conditioned to accept wrongdoing. And the justice is often meted out by those that have been afflicted, rather than a slow and meandering court system, which drags us back to our reality.
I'd have to agree that we do look like sadists, and considering what I have written so far, I would have a hard time proving to anyone that I was not. But, its there for a reason and in life as well. We can become wiser and stronger when we have faced adversity. It teaches. It pushes us to overcome it, or rolls us and leaves us for dead. We have to choose. The closer we can be to the heroic, in any way, the better we perceive ourselves. The world feels overwhelmingly wrong a lot of the time. Too much for one person. Ti's why hero's born nobodies are so popular.
I'm sure I've more to say, but for now, this'll do.

Originally Posted by elite

Let's face it, no one wants to read a novel about a rich, intelligent and good looking man and how he bangs four women every night.

dang it!

*junks autobiography*

In my current story, my main character, a baby, gets horrid insults from the mother seconds after being born, is assaulted on the forehead by his father, is abandoned in a road, is found by a man who gives false sense of hope, man's wife doesn't want a child so puts him back in the road, and then he gets hit by a car, and this all happens in two pages. I'm not sadistic at all though.

Is there any such thing as getting through life unscathed? I love journeys, growth, danger, and romance and a decent villian for sure, but I like happy endings, or happy enough. The lovers need be in one piece to carry on, that is a requirement. Dragged through some hell or another and a little bent, but still capable.

But hey, compared to what the average person lives through, a little bent is an understatement! Hunger and physical abuse is nothing compared to what you see in the average action film. (Except films rarely get too graphic, but a novel tends to be more explicit)

I don't want tragedies. Reading is escapism and there are enough tragedies in our world to last a hundred lifetimes. The idea being: Say a woman is about to be stoned to death. In our world, she probably will be. In a book, [likely a] he will be courageous enough to stop the madness or rescue her at the least. It is about being bigger and braver than we are here. About that part in us that refuses to be conditioned to accept wrongdoing. And the justice is often meted out by those that have been afflicted, rather than a slow and meandering court system, which drags us back to our reality.

The point being that practically no one likes to read about pleasant things. It's boring, it's too happy, something has to go wrong for things to be interesting. The damsel in distress has to be abducted by demons, and the hero will have to fight skeletons, dragons, ghouls, and giant spiders to just to have a chance at rescuing her. And in the end, the evil castle will coincidentally fall apart to make things worse. It's as if the god was against the happiness of it's creations.

I'd have to agree that we do look like sadists, and considering what I have written so far, I would have a hard time proving to anyone that I was not. But, its there for a reason and in life as well. We can become wiser and stronger when we have faced adversity. It teaches. It pushes us to overcome it, or rolls us and leaves us for dead. We have to choose. The closer we can be to the heroic, in any way, the better we perceive ourselves. The world feels overwhelmingly wrong a lot of the time. Too much for one person. Ti's why hero's born nobodies are so popular.

Adversity has a beauty of it's own. We can't help but gasp when the main character overcomes all the obstacles to get a rather disproportional reward. But that's why I used the word sadistic to describe humanity's taste for fiction.

dang it!

*junks autobiography*

That was hilarious!

In my current story, my main character, a baby, gets horrid insults from the mother seconds after being born, is assaulted on the forehead by his father, is abandoned in a road, is found by a man who gives false sense of hope, man's wife doesn't want a child so puts him back in the road, and then he gets hit by a car, and this all happens in two pages. I'm not sadistic at all though.

That's pretty merciless! I don't think I can get that cruel with my little creations, but here's what I have:

In my current story, the main heroine's parents died when she was very young. She has been taken care of by her aunt since then, who absolutely despises her and her father. Conveniently my heroine can hear the thoughts of everyone nearby, whether she wants to or not, isn't that great?

elite asked: Which leads to the point of this debate: why do you love drama so much? why does it stir you up inside?

In 1989, my first year in post military law enforcement, on what was supposed to be an easy assignment, I found myself deep in gang territory. During that shift I rescued a 13 year old girl just as she was about to be gang raped. Through a combination of circumstances I ended up spending the night with her before being able to arrange a ride home for her. Her life story, that she told me that night, was heavy with a mother who spent every night on a bar floor.

A couple of years later I told the story to a contemporary. She told me a story of a 13 year old girl, thrown out by her family, raped by a father of a friend, who ended up living in a clothing donation box. She was found and rescued by a retired firefighter (without family), who adopted and raised her. This story, which I wrote and put on another site, is one of my best received stories. I still get feedback from people, who tell me that the story moves them to tears.

So, it's not so much conflict we love so much as resolution. The protagonist, facing terrible odds, overcomes something terrible.

On the traffic news in the morning, I've heard them say things like "Steer clear of the A23 in Norbury, there's been a bad accident and the police have closed down one lane. In the other lane, drivers are slowing down to look as they pass, making the problem worse."

I think Mark Twain said "Create characters you love and visit trouble upon them."

No news is good news.

The mundane I don't do well. Give me a tragedy and I see a canvas ready to paint.

We love conflict so much.

Don't we all? It's as if it is a part of our psyche.

"If two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless both can never have, they become enemies." - Thomas Hobbes

Very interesting replies, guys (or girls).

I was about to give up on this forum, because I wasn't exactly blending in very well. But after I began posting on the debate forum and I felt inspired, to say the least. Well, I'm getting off topic.

I want to say that this topic is a bit of a hyperbole, it was meant to point out an obvious thing: that there is no happiness without sadness to compare with. Yes, we are all sadistic, but because of that kindness also exists. It's because we enjoy these things that we enjoy bringing happy endings to others, because conflict without resolution is just as boring as no conflict at all.

But I had some fun reading your responses, they were all unique views on the topic and that's why I'm really liking this forum.

Most times all my main characters are psychotic in some form and end up dying in the end.

Originally Posted by elite

Let's face it, no one wants to read a novel about a rich, intelligent and good looking man and how he bangs four women every night.

I do... if all the women are good looking and have penises.

First thing I thought of was Stella Gibbons' "Cold comfort farm", where everybody has problems and the heroine sorts them all out, happy ending, but I suppose surreal comedy doesn't count, or maybe that's why it's surreal and comic.