Discouraged Efforts)
Last week I talked about “inciting moments,” where the protagonist commits to some cause, even though there is strong opposition to it. I mentioned that in my own story Cace was initially discouraged from exploring the Ether, but then felt he had to because of his promise to help save Rolar and Aylme.
And so, in the very next chapter, I began with Cace determinedly making his way back towards the Ether. This time he was testing his ability to call himself back after entering the trance and things did not go well. Tearing himself from that alternate reality did him serious, physical damage, enough that it could threaten his life if he continued forward. Thus Cace will be freshly discouraged from seeking out the Ether in the next chapter…at least until he gets pushed back into it again!
More Than Human)
There is a similar back-and-forth for the character of Clark Kent in the 2013 film Man of Steel. Clark is a native of Krypton, sent by parents he will never know to Earth. His father, Jor-El, knows that he will be a being of immense power, and hopes that his son will choose to lead the people of Earth into the light.
But when Clark arrives, he falls under the care of a farmer, Jonathan Kent, who is a far more reserved father, fearful of what the world will do to his son if they discover his powers. So Jonathan urges Clark to keep his supernatural abilities hidden, though on occasion Clark defies those instructions, always feeling compelled to intervene when others are in trouble.
Then Clark gets an even more powerful deterrent when Jonathan finds his own life endangered. Clark wants to save him, but they are in a public place and Jonathan commands his son to not intervene, giving up his life rather than his son’s secret. Though Jonathan is gone, Clark is weighed by the magnitude of the man’s sacrifice. He becomes an aimless drifter, occasionally using his powers for good, but always anonymously, disappearing from each place as soon as he shows a glimmer of what he can really do.
Then, fate intervenes. An alien menace threatens mankind if Clark Kent doesn’t turn himself in. There is no way to quietly and peacefully keep his existence a secret anymore. Either he abandons humanity to their destruction, or he steps out in front for all to see. Clark wrestles with the decision, but ultimately chooses the latter, becoming the hero Superman.
The entire first half of the film is taken up with Clark’s struggle. He has powerful reasons to assume his heroic identity and he has powerful reasons not to. Of course he was always going to choose to fully unfurl his powers at some point or another, though, for that is where the story is. If Jonathan Kent had had his way, the story that needed to be told would never be.
Hakuna Matata)
Something similar happens in Disney’s the Lion King after Simba runs away from his home and is taken under the wing of laid-back duo Timon and Pumbaa. Simba is heir to a throne, born to be a powerful king, but right now he is weighed down by shame and absent a father to protect him. To his fears and insecurities comes the soothing philosophy of his new friends: “hakuna matata” which means to just not worry about things anymore.
Timon and Pumbaa teach Simba how to live the carefree life, giving up his duties and identity for indolence. Years pass and Simba believes that his past is gone forever, but there are hints that his heart is discontent with this. He is avoiding his greater story and he knows it. When his childhood friend Nala finds him and tries to stir him back to action he resists, repeating the carefree philosophy he has come to live by. But then he receives a message from his dead father, calling him out for having given up his true identity, and this finally convinces him to act.
Timon and Pumbaa may have meant well, but just like Jonathan Kent they were blocking Simba from his true story. What is the same in both Clark Kent and Simba is that each of them is discontent with their lesser life, but they are also unwilling to stir themselves from it by themselves. Each of them has to be disrupted in some way and have those story-blocking walls broken for them. For Clark this is by the alien invasion and for Simba it is by the appearance of his father’s ghost.
Get the Message Through)
In the story Les Miserables, the main character Jean Valjean must have his wall broken by several incidents in succession. For after 19 years of hard labor he has been firmly converted to the image of himself as a convict, and it is not an easy thing for him to accept a role in any larger story.
First a kindly priest looks beyond the titles of “convict” and shares food and lodging with the man. Valjean is touched, but not yet fully disrupted. He wakes up, steals the silver, and knocks the priest on the head when discovered!
The next day he is found with the stolen goods, arrested, and brought back to the priest. Instead of condemning him, the priest orders him to be set free and gives him even more silver. He stresses to Jean that he is a new man now, purchased, reclaimed, and set upon a new story.
Jean Valean is deeply moved this time, and in most film and theatrical adaptations finally accepts a reformed life. In the original novel, though, there is one more incident where he starts to go back to his thieving ways, before recoiling in horror and fully committing to his higher calling. In any case, he does finally break his old walls and enters his greater story.
Cace’s Change)
In my story I had Aylme discourage Cace from visiting the Ether, but then when he saw Rolar in danger he recommitted himself to it. Now with my last chapter I have given him a stronger discouragement when he encountered real, physical danger in the Ether. This, of course, means that there must now be an even stronger push to go back. This next push will be the one that gets him through permanently, fully entered into his larger story. Come back on Wednesday to see how I deliver it.
Give Me Pen and Paper 