Shakespeare's Solution : Kill the Kid

[BoyScoutKevin]

On the other hand . . .?!

Think "The child of my enemy is my enemy," and (IMHO) you have a scene that does not work, and here are some examples of that.

Anonymous
Robin Hood and the Monk

What a difference a century makes. What was acceptable when the story was written would not be acceptable in Shakespeare's time. Nor would it be acceptable in our time, as the story told today has to be rewritten.

Sarah Douglas
The Daughter of Hades

C. S. Forester
Hornblower and the Crisis

Zane Grey
The Last Wagon Train

Victor Hugo
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Per Lagerkervist
The Dwarf

Jean Rabe
The Rebellion

Kenneth Roberts
The Northwest Passage

Whitley Streiber
The Hunger

And the effect on me is even greater. If a scene does not work in a film, several of which we have already mentioned, I'll continue to watch the film, and I even might enjoy the film. On the other hand . . . ?! If a scene does not work in a book, then I stop reading the book.

And when the number of kids killed can be determined in all the books mentioned, only 4 or 5 are girls or 18% to 23% are girls, and all the rest are boys or 77% to 82%.

Next time: we'll wrap it all up with some final comments

[BoyScoutKevin]

Final comments

As to the why it interests me, not because like some, I like seeing kids killed, but . . .?! Because it really is one of the hardest scenes to do and/or write rightly, as one can so easily do what one does not want to do, and that is alienate one's audience and/or readers, which one really, really does not want to do, if one want to be successful. Thus, it takes a great filmmaker and/or writer, almost a Shakespeare to do the scene well enough, so that it does not alienate one's audience and/or readers.

And that is that.