Conflict



**Conflict** is the open clash or disagreement of values, beliefs, interests, ideas or opinions between two or more opposing groups or individuals. The conflict is essential in the creation of a plot and usually develops or escalates as the story progresses and sometimes come to a conclusion or resolution at the end of the story.

One conflict in //Heat and Dust// is different views on the act of suttee. Suttee gives the narrator "an eerie feeling" (p.55) but for Inder Lal's mother, on the other hand, it is "highest sacrifice" to be seemed with respected and "the greatest reverence". This difference in their views of suttee symbolises different people's interpretation and acceptance in Indian culture.

Another conflict in //Heat and Dust// buries between Olivia and Douglas' lives in India. Douglas was appointed to work in India as his family did before, while Olivia was brought to India by Douglas through marriage. Their different reasons for being in India result to their differences in accepting and adapting to the Indian culture as well as the Indian way of life. One learns the language and actively work with the people while the other shuts the sight of India completely behind blinds and stays at home all day to avoid contact with the culture. This conflict escalates with Olivia's general refusal to blend in with the culture and led to her action of pursuing the Nawab. This conflict in the story largely influences the plot and explores several motifs including India under British rule and old versus present.