An External Conflict

"... Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen got into a fistfight. It was about something stupid-a missing jackknife-but even so the fight was vicious." Page 59

This passage is a perfect example of external conflict. Two characters have an altercation. In this case, it is a violent and physical fistfight. I found it interesting that the fight was so violent when it was over something so minor and 'stupid'. The soldiers must have been tense. Tension can cause anger and overreactions. I think that was definitely the case in this instance. The war was stressful and it caused this external conflict within the troops. I believe that the writer was trying to show the reader that violence and hardship wasn't always directly connected to the war but war was the cause just the same.