Internal dramatic conflict involves a character struggling against his own emotions. For example, he may have desires that contradict his value system, or he may be unable to make a difficult decision. Consider Ben Braddock, the title character of Mike Nichols' film, "The Graduate," who successfully completes college, only to realize he does not know what he wants out of life. Confused and feeling pressured by his parents' expectations, Ben tries to escape his reality through an affair with an older woman, the wife of his father's business partner. That choice becomes more complicated when he falls in love with the woman's daughter.
When two characters have the same goal, conflict is inevitable because both of them cannot win. "The War of the Roses," a dark comedy about a husband and wife going through a bitter divorce, shows what can happen when people stubbornly refuse to give any ground in the division of property and insist on being awarded the family home.
Sometimes a character is at odds with society or with a group within the society. Kathryn Stockett's novel, "The Help," is set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s. A young white woman returns home after college and, with her new-found adult perspective, recognizes the plight of the black women who work as maids in homes like the one she grew up in. She secretly collaborates on a book with two of the women to expose the racial injustice many in Jackson choose to ignore.
Stories that pit a character against a force of nature usually involve a life-threatening situation, which makes this type of conflict ideal for film. In Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," a New England island town is terrorized by a great white shark. Several people are killed, which scares the residents and threatens to devastate the town's tourist trade, so a small crew of men sets out to capture and kill the fish.
Dramatic conflict can also be a fight between a character and the supernatural. Ira Levin's 1967 novel, "Rosemary's Baby," is a masterfully told story about an expectant mother who begins to suspect that her husband has promised their unborn child to a group of devil worshippers in exchange for the acting success he covets.