The most straightforward type of external conflict is when a character in a story struggles against another character physically. In William Golding’s novel “The Lord of the Flies” for example, Ralph (the leader of the “good guys”) steadily comes into conflict with Jack (a bully who later forms a “tribe” of hunters). Jack and his “tribe” give in to their savage instinct and make attempts to hunt or kill the civilized batch of boys headed by Ralph.