Katelyn A. Question 2

Thomas C. Foster uses King Solomon’s quote, “There is nothing new under the sun” to accentuate his idea that all literature belongs to one continuous story. By this, he is referring to the idea that there are no original ideas and that every story belongs to one thought process of authors universally. For example, elements of one story may appear in another of a similar context. Foster elaborates on this idea in the chapter “Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?” when he discusses Tim Obrien’s Going After Cacciato (1978). The main character, Paul Berlin, falls through a hole in the road: “Not only that, one of the characters subsequently says that the way to get out is to fall back up. When it’s stated this baldly, you automatically think of Lewis Carroll. Falling through a hole is like Alice in Wonderland (1865)” (Foster 25). He also notes that the main character’s love interest is their guide through the Vietnamese tunnels during the Vietnam War, who may also remind the audience of Sacajawea. Familiar elements in text adds to the reading experience by allowing the audience to use their prior knowledge of concepts and literary ideas to develop a picture or meaning in a story. For instance, after reading The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, similar elements about the abuse of power and fear can be found in works such as Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar or Macbeth. Caesar is overthrown by even the most trustworthy of his friends, Brutus, when it is believed that he is unfit to take the throne. Contrary to the advice of Machiavelli, however, Caesar overthrows the previous king and tries to seem humble to the Republic by turning down the position of Emperor and slowly gaining power through his popularity of the people. Macbeth, on the other hand, gains his power parallel to the advice of Machiavelli through fear and bloodshed. He is overwhelmed by the prophecy given to him by the Weird Sisters and will do anything to preserve his position which he mercilessly fought for. Unlike Machiavelli’s predictions, however, both men are only temporarily successful. Of course, there are many character similarities between stories, as well. Rowling’s Harry Potter has been banned in many areas of the world for having obvious similarities to the Bible. Harry, being the so-called “Chosen One” is tasked with defeating Voldemort, the Dark Lord, who seems to have fallen from magical grace in pursuing his powers for evil. Harry willingly sacrifices himself for the safety of all of those at Hogwarts and their loved ones and is relieved of his sins (the horcrux side of him) in the train station (heaven). He is then resurrected from the dead and battles Voldemort (the devil) who is once again reduced to ash, thus banishing the evil that plagued the wizards of his time and turned many over to the dark-side (Eve and the forbidden fruit and other sins). Having historical knowledge of these characters and literary works provides the reader with a deeper understanding of the nature of the characters and stories which the author is attempting to portray without them having to fully elaborate. This also enriches the reading experience by providing the audience with a bank of literary knowledge and context clues from other stories which they can use to “connect-the-dots” (Foster 23). From past stories, they may be able to decide what will happen next with these characters or what their purpose is in the story. In this case, Harry’s purpose as the Chosen One was to defeat the Dark Lord. An audience which is familiar with Bible stories may have foreseen that he would be resurrected and associated this process with the deeper meaning of the cleansing of sin of the magical world or any world for that matter. Otherwise they may have just read an original book about wizards.