Collection 1- Human Stories

Common topics of stories

• coming of age
• innocence to experience
• Hero's quest
• Heroes with supernatural strength, canny skill
• spiritual journeys; those that bring a revelation, knowledge
• journeys of redemption
• quest to gain treasures
• Jesus Christ

"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before." -Willa Cather


What are these three repeated human stories?

In my freshman year, my English I teacher spent a large part of class educating us about common literary patterns in modern literature. These literary patterns can be traced back to ancient Greek myths and of the story of Jesus, which is what I believe the three repeated human stories. are based on.
The earliest recorded dramas were written by the Greeks, and these dramas were written about heroes. Classical Greek myths portrays a hero, a man or god with canny skills. The plot then developes in a typical Quest pattern, with a calling to a journey, the events of the journey, the helpers and guides, the Others, the treasure, and the transformation. The hero usually embarks on a journey to gain or regain treasures or knowledge. Take the example of Orpheus, who begins his journey to the underworld to find his wife, who died after being bit by a snake. Then take the story of Oedipus, who sets on his spiritual journey to find his purpose and his background. When we examine literature, we see this pattern repeated many times. Stories of the modern and contemporary time periods that describe the adventures of a hero almost always followed this format. Many authors, such as Shakespeare, also allude to these myths in his writings. Therefore, the first one of the stories that Cather speaks of are the hero stories.

The second type of story also relates to the ancient Greek myths - a transformation. In these myths, the main character usually undergoes a spiritual awakening; an event that leads them to gain experience and insight on life. The result of the revelation on the character is known as the "Transformation" stage of the Quest pattern. This idea of a transition from an innocent perspective to an experienced one has intrigued writers to conduct entire books based on this theme. It is a universal theme for a plethora of well known novels, now in a genre called bildungsroman, or "formation novels." We see this theme in almost every novel that is school required. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Great Expectations are some modern examples of bildungsroman. They are stories of a child's growth and realization of the world around them. Thus, the second type of repeated stories are the stories of a character's maturation from innocence to experience

The third type of story I want to talk about may be considered either myth or truth - the story of Jesus in the Bible. We probably all have heard the story of the Bible before, some more than others. In a quick relay, the Israelites were led out of Egypt by God to a promised land - Israel. However, the Israelites plagued their history with sin. They were constantly caught in what my English teacher called the "Cycle of Repentence." Sin pulls you down, then guilt pulls you down even further. Forgiveness and repentence pulls you back up, only for you to be pulled down again by sin. Jesus, according to Biblical belief, is the one who pulls you back up.
The story of Jesus is the third story of humanity. It is the story of a savior, of light, and of hope in despair. These stories may even include references to the Cycle of Repentence. This theme has found its way into Greek myths and many modern forms of literature. Characters in such stories who can be compared to Jesus Christ are known as Christ-figures, and they are found in examples such as Aslan from Narnia and Gandalf from The Lord of The Rings. Narnia and The Lord of the Rings are also allusions to the story of the Bible. In conclusion, as by my knowledge, the third story of humanity that is retold in history is the story of Christ.