Steal This Plot: A Writer's Guide to Story Structure and Plagiarism by William Noble & June Noble

Author:William Noble & June Noble [Noble, William & Noble, June]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Language Arts & Disciplines, Composition & Creative Writing
ISBN: 9781618090133
Google: 0mL6ugAACAAJ
Amazon: 1618090135
Publisher: The Write Thought, Inc.
Published: 2011-11-30T18:30:00+00:00

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10

Persecution

"Of all the tyrannies on human kind, the worst is that which persecutes the mind," wrote British poet John Dry den more than three hundred years ago. Persecution is that unfairest of all agonies because it is opposition raised to vicious, uncompromising harrassment. it is contentiousness on a scale that allows little in the way of mercy, understanding or approval. One is persecuted because one is different, and the very nature of persecution carries along deep-seated conflict and tension — the very elements that go into the making of a good story.

Persecution is made of more than just opposition. It is based on a distinction in social level or religion or origin — items which go far beyond a simple intellectual dispute because persecution usually ends in severe personal harm or death.

Persecution can be made most vivid when it is accomplished in the name of or directed at a single individual (even with the pervasive effects of the Holocaust as background, books such as Sophie's Choice by William Styron, The Diary of Ann Frank, and QB VII by Leon Uris remain the story of one person). "Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution," wrote George Eliot in the nineteenth century, and that's certainly true. If we're harrassed and opposed, and we know our lives are on the line, we call it persecution and somehow the battle seems more just, more right. For the persecutor the battle may seem equally just, but the bottom line is that both persecutor and the one being persecuted see their conflict as a struggle over basic, innate characteristics which, if left alone, would finally overwhelm and defeat the other.

Persecution is a powerful plot motivator, and it has formed the basis for many, many stories. Shakespeare recognizes the device and uses it in Richard III, his tragedy of the hunchbacked member of the House of York who persecuted all those standing in his way to the throne of England. Richard, to be sure, is the villain in this story, and through his conniving and treachery, lies and deceits he gains the throne. But the plot fairly bursts with his persecution of friends and relatives alike.

The story opens with Richard announcing his intent to play upon the suspicions of King Edward that under an old prophecy the King's issue would be disinherited by one of his heirs whose name begins with the letter "G" — a clear reference to Richard's brother, George, the Duke of Clarence. George is arrested, thrown in the Town of London where Richard, promising to free him, murders him instead.

This is but one in a string of murders that Richard conceives and carries out all in pursuit of the throne after King Edward dies. Along the way he stabs a deposed King (Henry VI) and his son, the Prince of Wales. He eliminates a variety of noblemen and followers, his own wife, the two young princes residing in the Tower who are in the direct line for the Crown and finally bis own ally, Buckingham.

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