Thomas C. Foster claims that no
story is truly original. This is seen in parallels from Eragon to Temeraire, and
from Lord of the Rings to Shrek. In the first example, both works
include a person who comes across a dragon egg and becomes an unlikely friend
and master of the creature. Then, the man and his dragon go on a quest that is
only possible for the pair of them to accomplish. In the second example, two
companions (Shrek and Donkey vs. Frodo and Sam) set out on a long, treacherous
journey. Along the way, they meet friends such as the Princess Fiona and the
fellowship of the ring, without whom the stories would not play out correctly.
Even then, one could find connections between all four of these examples. There
are two main companions in each, whom we could call the hero and the sidekick.
From this perspective, these stories would connect to many superhero comics. It
continues to go down a line of similar works, and after a while connections can
be made between virtually any plot that is read, seen, heard, or experienced.
It even crosses genre and media. From La
Boheme, to Rent, to Romeo and Juliet, there are endless
variations of the same story.
Why
does this happen? There are many answers to this question, but I will say that
it happens because our stories are reflections of us. Maybe humans truly are
all the same in our subconscious minds. The universal archetypes are based off
of our own human lives. We all possess the same handful of emotions. Happiness,
surprise, fear, disgust, anger, and sadness unite us, but the subtle variations
in the strength of each one of these emotions and how they coincide with our
experiences separate us. In this sense,
just as there is only one basic story, there is only one basic human mind.
What
was the original story that began the cycle of unoriginal narratives and
novels? Humans didn’t always write down their experiences, so it probably
started in lessons and myths passed down for generations. No matter how complex
one novel may seem, it can usually be stripped down to a simple experience, so
I would assume that these shared lessons and myths were the simplest forms of
modern stories. At first, they were used to explain phenomena that were
considered a mystery at the time. For example, the sun came up when Helios rode
his flying chariot across the sky and brought the day. Eventually, these
explanations were written down and elaborated on. As writing became more of a source of entertainment than an explanation of nature, outlandish details were added. However,
each story, because it was written by humans, will always reflect our own
lives. It is the reason we are able to see ourselves in characters, and the
reason no story can ever be completely original. Just as music has only twelve
notes and countless songs, humans have only a few emotions and endless supplies
of similar stories.
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