Internal Conflict In The Birthmark

Sanjna Prasad
Ms. Fannin
Have you ever wondered if internal conflict improves the literary work? Minor and major characters face internal conflict in almost every literary work. Internal conflict is the key to creating more complex characters that people can relate to more. Internal conflict adds emotional depth, and provides reasoning behind motives.
Internal conflict provides the character facing the conflict with a diverse range of emotions. Conflict does this because characters began to feel conflicting emotions and ideas that cause them to hold their feelings in. Especially when characters face an emotional breakdown and let their pent up feelings out. In “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne shows Georgiana’s internal conflict, and her emotional distress by saying, “‘Shocks you, my
Hawthorne makes a dramatic and surprise turn of events by saying, “As the last crimson tint of the birthmark-- that sole token of human imperfection-- faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight.” to give the reader the feeling that the birthmark will end and Georgiana will live. This resolution affects the theme by adding an extra plot twist that resulted from the decision of the internal conflict. The ending adds to the reader's understanding by changing the theme to the opposite by making the theme, imperfection is beauty, instead of perfection is beauty. The internal conflict created a different resolution then the reader expected. In conclusion, “The Birthmark”’s use of internal conflict adds to the quality of the novel by adding to the character’s emotional balances and actions. Internal conflict, in general, adds to the characters by making them complex and more diverse with each having their own