The Role Of Quests In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

-Every time a character sets out to do something it's a quest. The idea of a quest has evolved greatly, as literature has evolved.

A quest in a book consists of five aspects. A quester, a place to go, a reason to go there, challenges and trials, and a real reason to go there. Eragon, by Christopher Paolini, is a book that consists of all five aspects of a quest. Eragon is the quester in this novel. He lives a simple life, farming with his uncle and cousin. The place he goes is out of Carvahall, because he is running away from monstrous villains that want to find him and the dragon egg Eragon hatched. Eragon will travel through almost all of the country Alagaesia throughout his journey. The intended reason for Eragon to travel through Alagaesia is to avenge the monsters that killed his uncle Garrow. Eragon has to go through many challenges and trials before he finally avenges

The five aspects of the QUEST are a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there. I believe these aspects have been shown in the popular movie Shrek. Shrek fulfills the title of a quester because he is an ogre living alone in a swamp until one day Lord Farquaad takes away his home. The destination for Shrek and his partner Donkey is the Dragon’s Castle to rescue Princess Fiona. The stated reason to travel there is that if Shrek is capable of rescuing Princess Fiona and bringing her back to Lord Farquaad, he would be allowed to return to his swamp and move on with his lonely life. There are many challenges throughout Shrek’s journey. When Shrek and Donkey arrive at the large

In a novel, when a character makes a trip it usually becomes to be a quest at one point. “… structurally. The quest consists of five things: (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go there” (Foster 3). Questers are so often young, inexperienced, immature, and sheltered, that it makes the real reason for the quest, self-knowledge.

4. The next key words were identified in the chapter and serve as an informal outline of the chapter. At the beginning of the chapter, Foster gives a brief example of a quest: a knight (Kip), a dragon road (German shepherds), Holy Grail (wonder bread), one dragon (’68 ‘Cuda), evil knight (Tony) and a princess (the laughing girl). In other words, each story has a quester, a place to go to, along with stated reason to go there and unknown challenges and trials en route; however, at the end there is a real reason for the whole trip - self-discovery (Foster 3). The stated reason is

In the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas C. Foster, the first chapter is dedicated to explaining the aspects of a quest in literature. Using this chapter, entitled 'Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It's Not)' (page 1-6), the aspects in question can be related to the quest in "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. The first aspect listed is 'a quester' or 'a person who goes on a quest' (page 3, HTRLLAP); within the first line of the main story, our quester is revealed. We learn that 'the boy's name [is] Santiago,' (page 3, Alchemist). The focus of the entire story is on him and his journey, so the first aspect is there. 'A place to go' (page 3, HTRLLAP) is the second aspect, a very pivotal component for the development of the story.

Lastly, he lectures about the real reason of the quests rather than the stated reason; regardless of the initial reason, there is always an underlined reason, which Foster states as self-knowledge. This real reason explains why so many protagonists are young and inexperienced, for they have “a long way to go in the self-knowledge department” (Foster 3). Foster introduces an example of an unlikely quest: Thomas Pynchon’s Crying of Lot 49. The quester in Crying of Lot 49 is a young woman that is stuck in an unhappy marriage and is easily dominated by the men in her life. The destination is Southern California, however she also journeys toward an uncertain future. Her stated reason to go to Southern California, far from her home in San Francisco, is that she has been made the executor of the will for her deceased lover. She goes through numerous trials which include meeting many eccentric and chilling people, taking nightlong voyages through San Francisco, talking psychotic therapists out of shooting rampages, and involving herself in a postal conspiracy. Lastly, Foster tells us the real reason the character, Oedipa Maas, is on a quest. Oedipa is named after a character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, who doesn’t truly realize himself. The great challenge for Oedipa is that her security blankets, the males in her life, are gradually proven to be fake or unreliable. She is given the choice to either break down or forge on, regardless of the

In Thomas Foster’s book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, it is written that there are five aspects of a quest: “the quester; a place to go; a stated reason to go there; challenges and trials en route; a real reason to go there” (Foster 3). In the book Siddhartha, Siddhartha is the quester who is specifically in search for enlightenment through his wanderings. During his quest, he constantly endures internal unrest. Although Siddhartha searched for enlightenment, he really wanted all of his unsettled questions about his life answered.

Quests help guide the player through the ideas of the developer, progressing them through new environments, introduce them to fictional characters, teach them how to engauge in combat, all while masking the experience in some form of narritive. It becomes an [[interactive]] experience for the players to both learn the game and enjoy themselves. In this form of developer led story telling, players are putting thier trust in what the creator of the game will provide for the time spent in game. We go into the game with little knowledge other than what assumptions we may already possess

The first that we see in the book would be when George becomes angry with Lennie near the creek, but the first one the reader is told about would be when Lennie is falsely accused of rape. The last setback is when Lennie is killed, obviously stopping him from ever achieving that dream and, as the reader can infer, preventing George from doing this as well. He can’t very well go and get a pretty little plot of land without being reminded every day of the man he killed! Foster describes these setbacks as “A minorly unpleasant encounter with a German shepherd,” and continues on to show that “The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason.” So, really, these setbacks aren’t true setbacks at all, just nudges in the direction George is supposed to go. Sadly, this means that Lennie does end up dying at George’s hands, but that’s the ultimate sign that their goal was never meant to be accomplished. "I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an' on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an' that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them. They come, an' they quit an' go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it," Crooks tells George and Lennie one night. Throughout the entire

Tom C. Foster states that the five aspects of a quest include; (a) a quester (b) a place to go (c) a stated

Foster breaks down the aspects of a journey to describe the quester, the destination, the stated reason, the challenges, and the real reason. The character who embarks on the journey, also known as the quester, has a defined reason to do so, whether it is to obtain an object, save one from the lurking dangers, or acquire life-saving knowledge. Along their way to reach their destination, they may encounter various challenges such as a physical barrier, a challenger/defender, or a personal obstacle they must face. Through whatever form it takes, these barriers force the quester to challenge their abilities and beliefs, which ultimately leads to them discovering personal knowledge previously unknown about themselves. Though the quester may have accomplished their stated goal of their journey, they return from their voyage often as a changed person as the real reason for their quest was to gain self-knowledge. After they finish their conquest, the quester realizes that the journey was more important than the destination whether they built upon their relationships with another, conquered a personal fear, or gained new found knowledge about themselves, altering their personality and their identity. Foster believes that every trip is a quest, and the quest is a revelation about one’s

A Quest consists of five elements: 1. a quester, so to speak, or the person who is on a quest. 2. a place to go. 3. a stated reason to actually go there. 4. challenges and trials on the way. 5. a real reason to go there.

Some of the first elements of quests that usually come to mind include dragons, knights in shining armor, searches for ornate hidden treasures, and fairytale endings; however, the word quest simply means a journey. Often times people go on a quest in search of something they desire, but as protagonist Neddy Merrill discovers, the quest does not always turn out as planned and instead leads the quester in the direction of self-discovery. In his 1964 short story “The Swimmer,” John Cheever depicts the disastrous downfall of a man who impulsively decides to journey home through a course of swimming pools, but instead unconsciously escaping reality.

The five aspects of the quest are the quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials on the way, and the real reason to go there. When I read The Secret Life Of the Bees the quester was Lily, she was looking to go to Tiburon to find out more information about her mother and the past. On her journey she runs away from her father, falls in love, and becomes a part of a family. The real reason behind her journey is to get away from her father and feel connected with a family.