Robert Penn Warren Character Analysis

Jealousy, guilt, anger, internal conflict, betrayal, love, hatred – is it the year 1942 or 2015? Regardless of the point in history in which a book is set, the same emotions are felt and the same conflicts occur that permit a person to merge his life with the lives of the characters and allow him to become a significant part of the fiction he is reading. Lord of the Flies and A Separate Peace both force the reader to look at the darkness within each of us and face the way we overcome that darkness through how we resolve our inner conflict (Golding; Knowles) . In Robert Penn Warren’s “Why Do We Read Fiction?” his statement “no conflict, no story” illustrates the fact that without conflict there can be no progression within a story (8). Fiction opens the door to many new worlds filled with characters- some interesting, some sad, some inspiring- and events- some agonizing, some exciting, and some suspenseful. Experiencing their story as they face these emotions and struggles, without having to actually endure their hardships affirm that the emotions we face and the struggles we endure are significant- our stories, our lives matter. (Warren …show more content…
Warren states in Why Do We Read Fiction, “It is no wonder that conflict should be at the center of fiction, for conflict is at the center of life” (9). His insightful words lead us to the realization that we will always have some form of conflict in our lives, whether internal or external. Through conflict we will determine the significance of our lives all while going back to fiction in order to reassert our significance. Conflict gives us a “life more abundantly lived” and grants us a more compelling life. (Warren 15). Through the fictional novels of Lord of the Flies and A Separate Peace, we are able to catch a glimpse of internal conflicts that the authors themselves might have been going through (Golding; Knowles). Therefore, our feelings are similar to those experienced by the