It is inevitable for one to avoid conflicts when it affects them personally. It is ordinary for one to conform to betrayal, deceit, false accusations and many other various ways in an attempt to fulfil their desires and objectivity. Although people may engage in conflict for personal reasons, some do not engage in conflict deliberately but were instead drawn in because of the conflict occurring between others.
With this, people who are trapped in the middle must force themselves to take a side or form a judgement in order to benefit themselves or the people around them and hence engaging in conflict for their personal reasons. When one’s personal beliefs or values are threatened, it is ordinary that one may resort to preserve their personal beliefs or values by resorting to the use of power. Power can be in a form of using personal might or the use of the combination of power from the community or government bodies.
This could be seen in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible which highlights the use of power of the government which is represented by Danforth as the head of the court. The quote by Danforth stating that he would “… hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law… ” is an example which accentuates the importance of preserving the order of the court and also the resolution of the statutes. The harsh statement made by him also exemplifies the extent of the use of his power in order to fulfil his personal reason to achieve the community to conform to the court of law and also obeying authority.
The power of personal might could also be exemplified in the character Reverend Hale who at the end of the play believes that “ God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride”. Although he may be a Reverend and is obliged to believe in the values of honesty, he compromised this by believing that one may lie in order for his or her own survival. Self interest or desire are one of the many personal reasons that people engage in conflict for.
One of the biggest motivating factor in perpetuating conflict is the desire to be more powerful financially and socially. In order for one to be powerful, one must take advantage to assert power in dominating many key potential assets such as land, resources and other wealth generating areas. Most of the time it involves conflicts between many parties. The Blood Diamond which refers to a diamond mined in a war zone is one of many examples that could be used to support the engagement of conflict between parties.
In The Crucible, the character Thomas Putnam who is seen as a greedy man who uses his daughter to accuse people whose property he covets is also depicted as using the accusations of witchcraft which were based on greed and selfish desires. Although most people engage in conflict for personal reasons, some are trapped in between. This could be seen everywhere in the news at present and an example of one would be the war between the US and Iraq which resulted in many innocent deaths, mainly civilians who are trapped in between.
Similarly, this could be seen in the character Mary Warren who is being pulled from both sides, Abigail Williams and John Proctor. As innocent as a child she is, she had to make an ultimate decision in order to save her life after being framed by Abigail Williams that she is indeed a witch when she sided with John Proctor. Therefore, she resorted to switch sides to Abigail Williams in a quick attempt to cleave to her own life and instead framing John Proctor as “… the Devil’s man”.
Despite the fact that she conformed to betrayal and lies in the court of law, she had to take a stand in the conflict and choose the winning side in order to save herself. Therefore, there are many reasons why people mainly engage in conflict to fulfill their own personal desires and preserving their beliefs and values in the community. Also, a large minority might also not be directly involved in the conflict between the other parties but were drawn in helplessly and in order to save themselves or the people around them, they have to take a stand.
