When Foster says that “all writing and telling belong to one big story,” he means that every story that is written is another story with different characters and settings. Knowing this allows the reader to connect their favorite books and stories with traditional tales, and allows them a deeper insight into the motivations behind the character’s actions. By knowing that the story you are reading reflects the story of Jesus, you can take a greater understanding in the character, as well as see the metaphorical aspect of the story better. I have seen this in my own experiences with art in places like the National Gallery in Washington, DC, where a good majority of the Renaissance paintings were biblical scenes. Additionally, in terms of fiction, Disney’s The Lion King is a prime example. It is a story about a lion and coming of age after his father’s death and coming back to reclaim his place in the pride, but the story is taken from Hamlet (minus the tragic ending, and with some other modifications). But strip the story down to its base and it mirrors Hamlet. Many other stories have, for a long time, followed the same plot/story line as another. This is evidenced by the fact that there are common plot tropes such as “A Hero’s Journey”. The Hero’s Journey outlines a very simple plot line that has been followed by many modern authors and creators, with prominent examples being the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as George Lucas’s Star Wars.
There is no story that can be uninfluenced by the stories and tales the author was told as a child, because every author reads. It is one of the reasons that a lot of them become an author. And thus, all their stories are influenced by other stories, and all the stories become one in the end.
Beth Anne, I like all of your different connections you made to other stories. It gives me one of those "oh wow I never thought of that" moments. I also like how you mention that no story can be uninfluenced by other stories. It reminds me of the saying that no thought is actually an original thought or idea. It gets me thinking about how every story we read is just somehow influenced by another story before it. It also makes me think about how you could read a story that I haven't read before, but when I read a story you wrote I am getting a feel for that story without even realizing it. We are all experiencing that "one big story" with everything we read. It’s crazy to think about.
ReplyDeleteBeth Anne, I love this breakdown of literature. As you mentioned, every story is connected and I have had moments where, even after reading for most of my life, I find myself noticing a connection to another story I have read before. Another thing I have noticed before is that authors are just as connected as their stories. Modern authors make allusions to Hemingway and Steinbeck, while Hemingway and Steinbeck made allusions to Victorian authors, and Victorian authors usually made allusions to Shakespeare, the Bible, and Greek myths. It's a mind boggling to think about, but once you get your head around every author and their works being connected, it's amazing.
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