Components of a Quest Novel in True Grit by Charles Portis

In Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, it is stated that a quest consists of five things: a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges on the way, and a real reason to go there. In this particular situation, there is not just one quester, but instead and entire family: the Joads. They are headed to California in search of a steady job that will support them. On their way, they face money problems, car troubles, deaths, and issues with the government. The real reason to go there is always self knowledge in the eyes of Thomas Foster. The family learns that they must stick together and help each other and others out in order to survive. Without the help of their neighbors they would have perished of hunger and never would have made it into California. Unfortunately, they never actually reach the point where they have steady and happy lives. This is their Holy Grail. They were journeying toward something that they were never going to find in

Quests help guide the player through the ideas of the developer, progressing them through new environments, introduce them to fictional characters, teach them how to engauge in combat, all while masking the experience in some form of narritive. It becomes an [[interactive]] experience for the players to both learn the game and enjoy themselves. In this form of developer led story telling, players are putting thier trust in what the creator of the game will provide for the time spent in game. We go into the game with little knowledge other than what assumptions we may already possess

The five aspects of a quest are ( A.) a quester, ( B.) a place to go, ( C.) a started reason to go there, ( D.) challenges and trials en route, ( E.) and a real reason to do there. “Once you figure out quest, the rest is easy”. The started goal fades away throughout the story line and a new one is created. In the movie The Wizard of Oz the ( A.) Quester is a young, naive Dorothy, who is from Kansas. Dorothy is caught in a tornado and lands in the Land of Oz. ( B.) A Place To Go: When Dorothy arrives in Oz she finds out the only person the can get her back home is The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz, who lives in the Emerald City, and the only way to get there is to follow the Yellow Brick Road. ( C.) As Stated Reason To Go There: Dorothy wants

2. A gathering around a meal often represents an act of communion. People come together to share thought, ideas, and conflicts. In “The Poisonwood Bible”, a particular scene occurs when there is a dinner at the church. The feeling around the dinner table was a sense of belonging and agreement, which matches up well with “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” view of a meal. As the meal proceeds, Kingsolver notes “He is Congolese all right, But he has different kind of eyes that slant a little bit like a Siamese” (Kingsolver 125). This

Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cat Woman; when you hear the word hero or heroine that is who you think of. The most famous heroes of all time, as well as the not so famous heroes such as Hazel, fit the archetype of a hero; they are all courageous, resourceful, and strong-willed. Most people don’t notice that almost all action/adventure movies and novels are the same. All of their stories fit the archetypal pattern of a heroic quest. A heroic quest consists of twelve steps that the hero completes throughout his or her journey. In this essay, I will be explaining the parallels between Watership Down by Richard Adams and the archetypal pattern of a heroic quest; as well as the parallels between

The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or to discover some life.

When examining various cultural myths, one archetype keeps repeating—the image of the quest. This archetype functions with various different mythologies as a method of learning about the world, both its external features and what is inside the self. The quest comes from ancient origins and is found in Classical Western culture, but has been fine tuned through the generations. In its most modern interpretations, there are continuing elements of the age old myth, where extenuating circumstances or hubris, place the hero in turmoil and needing to find an answer. Having additional sexual charges, it is clear that through the quest, adulthood is not only reached but embraced. This answer represents a completeness of being,

“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us…The hero journey is a symbol that binds …. (Phil Cousineau).” Mattie Ross learns this in True Grit, by Charles Portis, when she experiences the death of her father. She says, ”…Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas and robbed him of his life and his horses and $150 in cash money plus two California gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band(11)”. Frank Ross, Matties’ father, who was shot to death, by a man named, Tom Chaney. Mattie Ross is just 14 years old in the 1870’s, she states, “Nothing is free in this world except the grace of god, you must pay for everything.(pg?)” Personal

The first major event is the thing that leads to everything else in the novel. The cold blooded murder of the father of Mattie Ross by Tom Chaney, in Ft Smith, Arkansas.

Umberto Eco once stated in his essay “Why Are They Laughing in Those Cages?” “The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everyone else.” Mattie Ross does not become a hero just because she wants to become a hero, she has a call. That call creates a goal she wants to achieve and she becomes the hero of this novel because of this. She will not have a goal if her call to adventure does not occur. A quest story always contains a hero, a wise old man, and a guide. In Charles Portis novel True Grit, he demonstrates exactly that. Mattie Ross comes forth as the hero of his novel. Rooster Cogburn assists her by taking on the role of the wise old man. LaBoeuf appears in this novel as the guide. Mattie, Rooster and LaBouef all fit into the roles of these characters in a quest story.

Heroes are brave, determined, courageous, and selfless people whop embark on a journey in order to fulfill a goal for the better good, every heroes journey is different. Some heroes fight dragons to save the castle and some like Westley steal the princess in order to protect her, Westley goes on a long journey where he faces many enemies and challenges but, he continues his journey to rescue his one true love. In The Princess Bride a novel by William Goldman, the character Westley is a hero because, he experiences all 6 stages of the heroic archetype structure including being called to action, crossing threshold, the road of tests, meeting the helpers, trip to the underworld, and the quest.

“The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason” (Thomas Foster). A quester may not even know that they are on a quest. A quester gains self – knowledge on a quest. Additionally, a quester’s true reason of the quest may change throughout the story. Crispin, from Crispin: The Cross of Lead by AVI is a hero on a quest due to many factors.

In the Heroic Journey, the hero is someone who is missing or lacking something. For Oedipus, this would be the health in Thebes. Thebes “can not lift her head from the death surge” of the plague and it is Oedipus’ ultimate goal, as king, to end the plague and keep his citizens safe. (Fitzgerald, 4) This would be the “grail” in Oedipus’ story, as well as the truth about his past and the murder of king Laїos.

A Quest consists of five elements: 1. a quester, so to speak, or the person who is on a quest. 2. a place to go. 3. a stated reason to actually go there. 4. challenges and trials on the way. 5. a real reason to go there.

The five aspects of the quest are; (a) quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials, (e) and the real reason to go. I pick the play Oedipus the King by William Shakespeare. (a) The quester of this play would be Oedipus and is also the main character. (b) Oedipus left his parents and traveled to Thebes because he is trying make sure the oracle was wrong about his fate.(c) He left his hometown without his “parents” because the oracle told Oedipus that his fate is to kill his father and marry his mother. (d) Oedipus faces challenges when he gets to Thebes. When Oedipus first got to Thebes the Sphinx, a terrible monster, asked him to solve her riddle and he was able to solve it. Which freed Thebes of the