Stories of love or death for Valentine’s Day
(A mother’s love is what those baby geese are chasing )
Stories may have very different opening lines but are basically the same story told with different characters. “Lolita” began with the line “Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins” and “Moby Dick” started with the line “Call me Ishmael,” but in the end these two stories were the same.
Humbert Humbert, the middle-aged literature professor, was obsessed with the nymphet Lolita and that obsession killed him. Captain Ahab was obsessed with Moby Dick and his obsession killed him, too. Lolita was a 12-year-old girl and Moby Dick was a whale, but they both got the plot moving along well.
Of course, not all stories end so sadly. “One Thousand and One Nights” is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales about Scheherazade, who was permitted to live by entertaining her king with an interesting story each night. And I thought my deadlines were terrifying. Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” does end with him going to heaven in the end, which is a better deal than Ahab’s or Humbert Humbert’s.
Humans tell stories because we need stories. It gives our world some meaning and purpose and offers solace or beauty along the way. The famous mythologist Joseph Campbell said that all great stories have the same plot. You have someone who receives a call to embark on a journey. The main character hesitates and then begins the journey. He or she encounters challenges, receives help from a mentor, eventually faces the enemy, survives all the trials and returns back to share the boon. This is the plot of “Star Wars” with Luke Skywalker as the young hero and Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda as the mentors. George Lucas directed these films and he used Joseph Campbell as a consultant.
Great stories are about great adventures, a journey and a transformation. Robinson Crusoe was about a seafaring man who was shipwrecked and stranding on an island off the coast of South America and survived using his wits. Don Quixote was about an old man inspired by chivalric romances who decided to become a knight errant. He fights windmills and other oddities and the story of “Don Quixote” is now considered one of the great works of Western literature.
“Les Miserable” is also a tale of adventure and transformation with Jean Valjean starting out as a criminal and ending up as a saint. “The Odyssey” by Homer was about a 10-year journey of Odysseus who had to triumph in war in Troy and overcome the temptations of sirens in order to return to the love of his wife Penelope.
The reason we love to watch sports so much is because they are telling a story as well. Whether it’s golf or the Super Bowl, we watch as athletes face profound pressure and wait to see if they can cope with the pain, anxiety and fatigue. The world will watch the next Super Bowl in order to observe this narrative. Who will choke in the end and who will have the courage and will to win.
Stories give us the answer to the great question of life and its meaning. Each of us is faced with this challenge of creating our own story. We all know our calling. In my case it is to become a great sport psychologist. In your case it may be to become a great teacher or mother or nurse or chef or father. The challenges and anxiety must be endured if we are to achieve our dream.
We write our own endings. If we are steadfast enough, our story ends in pride and glory and peace like the end of “A Simple Heart” by Flaubert. This is a story about love and devotion where Felicite, a simple maid who lived a life of suffering and loss, transcends her life at the moment of her death as she mistakes her stuffed parrot for the Holy Spirit and ascends to heaven. This is the ultimate story of transformation and demonstrates Flaubert’s love for his nanny.
All these stories are strange. Humbert Humbert is an odd duck and so is Ahab. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are oddities as was Dante, Odysseus, Felicite, Ishmael and Robinson Crusoe. But they all had one thing in common. They were all looking for love and it was that need that kept them alive and in the hunt. The hope for love is used to help the hero journey onward past all the fear and pain and suffering.
We like stories because they inspire us to carry on, give us hope and courage in our hunt. “All That Jazz” ended with Joe Gideon dying as a result of his endless quest for love. And “Rocky” gets his brains beat out and after the fight screams out for his “Adrian!” You thought money makes the world go round, but really it’s love that keeps us moving after all.
