In literature, whether it is a story or a poem, there usually seems to be some sort of internal conflict. Such conflict is not an opposition visual or tangible, it is simply in the mind. It is a character dealing with their own conflicting feelings or emotions Let's be honest, without some level of conflict, poems and short stories would not live up to readers' expectations they would be so interesting you would be less likely to read them, after all, we readers like to be able to connect to a certain character in a specific reading and sympathize with him, and more importantly, empathize with him. Two examples of works literary works that show internal conflict are Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est" and TC Boyle's "Greasy Lake" meaning of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" is "it is sweet and right", yet there is nothing sweet about it. and right in going through what these soldiers went through every day during World War I. The first lines use sad and depressing language to express an image of rough soldiers pushing through an ever-threatening battlefield. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, with bent knees, coughing like witches, we cursed in the mud” (lines 1-2) is how Owen describes the soldiers. This rejects the belief that the soldiers were happy, proud and patriotic. This shows them physically and mentally exhausted, still driven towards the single goal of survival. Their disintegrating body reflects their inner turmoil and exhaustion. The horrendous quality of war is shown by the description of the soldiers "the men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped, shod with blood" (lines 5-6), this highlights the fact that war is not normal. It seems unreal, just like that of a black man... middle of paper... both literary texts show immense internal conflict. Owen as a soldier who is supposed to fight for his country and be proud to do so, only to feel angry, or even resentful. He wants to serve his country, but at what cost? Is he living the American dream? Then there's the narrator in "Greasy Lake" who doesn't really know what he really wants. He thinks he wants to be a bad guy, but it wasn't until he went through those "tough guy" experiences that he realized that that wasn't the place he wanted to end up. Both “Dulce et Decorum est” and “Greasy Lake” show us that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and just because something looks one way, doesn't mean it is. War isn't sweet, and being a bad guy takes you places you don't really want to go. We all have two sides, good and bad. I think it's the part you feed the most that wins.