Which element is crucial to building character in a narrative?

Building character in a narrative involves presenting the character's development through their experiences, decisions, and transformations, and conflict or struggle serves as a critical element in this process. Conflict introduces challenges that characters must navigate, revealing their motivations, strengths, weaknesses, and growth throughout the story. It creates opportunities for characters to demonstrate resilience, moral values, and adaptability, thus deepening the reader's understanding of who they are.

In contrast, while physical description can provide insight into a character's appearance, it doesn't inherently convey their psychological or emotional complexities. Dialogue is also a powerful tool for characterization; however, if used alone without the context of struggle or conflict, it may not fully illustrate the evolution of a character. Lastly, setting contributes to the backdrop against which characters act but does not directly define their internal traits or growth. The unfolding of conflict or struggle is what vividly shapes characters and allows readers to connect with their journeys on a deeper level.