Last week in American Studies, we were discussing Kurt Vonnegut's idea of the Redemptive Arc. He stated that in every story, there is a common theme, or outline. It starts out with your protagonist, living a relatively happy life. Then, he, or she is faced with some terrible misfortune, but after all the struggles and sadness, they somehow pull through, and end up happier than they ever were before. For example, consider Harry Potter. At the beginning, his life wasn't too bad. Sure, he lived under the stairs, but he was still well fed, clothed, and had people to look out for him. But once he got accepted into Hogwarts, it all started going downhill. He had several near death experiences, the most powerful dark lord of all time was after him, and he was only eleven. Seems like he most definitely experienced some misfortune. However, at the end of the story, even he was able to come out on top, and he was able to experience true happiness.
Now, I completely agreed with Vonnegut's idea that this occurs in many stories, but I did not think that it could apply to real life at all. But then I got to thinking, my life, and most likely many others, certainly follows that path.
I (the protagonist of my life) started out with good fortune. I was born into an upper middle class family, I lived on the North Shore, clearly things were going my way. But I, like most people as well, have been faced with many challenges and struggles in my life. Now these misfortunes may not have been as severe as others. For example, I was not trying to fight off a dark lord at the mere age of eleven, but they were still misfortunes. Maybe I got a bad grade on a test, or maybe my family was going through hard times. However, these misfortunes have only made me stronger, and I have learned from them every time.
The Redemptive Arc is not just for stories, it clearly applied to many events in my life as well. Does everybody's life follow that path? Probably not. But it is definitely worth thinking about.
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