Chapter 1 - Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It's Not)
Foster explains how a simple trip to fetch milk or bread from the market can be a metaphorical adventure of epic proportions, turning a simple errand into a quest to destroy the Ring of Power, or to discover the force. Which, although it seems far-fetched, does make sense to at least a small extent. Everything in life is a learning experience. I recently went to Wal-Mart for a very simple thing: food. At the end of my journey I had realized several things about myself. 1) Modern fashion scares the living daylights out of me. Why do we wear this junk? 2) I tend to talk to various goods when I don't feel they are placed in a convenient enough location for me. And 3) I'm really not the scariest person in the world, or even in Batesville. Kind of shocking. Although I must say, my favorite example of a quest, as portrayed by Foster, is that of Star Wars.
Quester: A classic youngling, adventurous, curious, and completely over his head with the whole force thing: Mr. Luke Skywalker.
A place to go: Well we're actually just going to drop of old Ben here at Ancorhead, so he can get a transport to wherever he's going. Become a Jedi? Pssh. Like that'll happen.
A stated reason to go there: Well Ben's been asked by this princess person to safely transport blue prints to Alderaan through a message in Uncle's R2 unit. Who knew?
Challenges and Trials: Well lets see: Storm troopers kill his Aunt and Uncle, Han Solo is being... well Han Solo. Chewy's in the Way. Darth Vadar wants to kill everybody. The Emperor builds a second Death Star, and the darned bounty hunter hired by Jabba wont go away! How's that for trials?
The Real Reason to Go: To discover the ways of the force, reunite the family, continue on the jedi tradition, and ultimately save the universe. Not too bad for a mushroom farmer, huh?
Good job, Luke old buddy.
Chapter 2 - Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
In this chapter, Foster covers the importance of communion, or the act of eating with another/others. And how these meals really take place because of an ulterior motive of either a main character, or the author. In one of my favorite books of all time, Leota's Garden, there are a lot of meals eaten as a group event. Anne and Leota eat together to show that despite nearly a lifetime of separation, they love and hope to build a closer relationship. Sam treats Anne to take out as his way of saying "I love you! Give me a chance!" Of course, Anne is a smart girl and rejects Sam's attempted advancements. Poor Sam. Foster also covers how these meals can easily go awry. As the thanksgiving meal Anne put together as an attempt to reconcile her broken family... however, Anne's mother, Nora, secretly throws away the leftovers when she does the dishes. Ohhhhh the evil! These meals can also be a device used by the author to invite the reader into the story, possibly by describing delicious, scrumptious, mouth-watering, and over-all yummy food. In Redwall the author also uses said descriptions to give an air of joy and festivity to the Abby.
Chapter 3 - Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
First I'd like to point out the extreme enjoyment I received from the word doppelgängers. What a fun word! The use of vampires as metaphoric social monsters makes extreme sense to me. Also the idea that anybody and anything that drains energy and lifeblood out of someone is a vampire or ghost or whatever also makes a lot of sense. My mom has a book called Spiritual Vampires... about people who drain you spiritual and emotionally. These people show up in real life as well as literature. In Leota's Garden, Anne's mother Nora goes above and beyond the qualifications necessary to be qualified as vampire. Geesh. I personally think we face vampires in disguise everyday. Vampires in disguise include (but are not limited to) manipulators, over-protectors, and credit card debt. They are EVERYWHERE!!!
Chapter 4 - If It's Square, It's a Sonnet
...And if it's poetry, its likely to be confusing. I loved the poem Foster used as a reference, and I'm so very glad he broke it down for me, I would've taken forever to figure all that out, despite the fact that it's really quite simple. Poetry is such a beautiful art. And I'd really like some help with mine. Yep.
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