All works of literature contain different themes to express what is really happening with a story. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster is a book full of literary themes that can be found and analyzed for the reader to understand why the themes were used in an author’s work. Two of Foster’s “Fosterian” themes found in a number of works are a quest and a vampire. According to Foster, for a literature work to have a quest, there are five things that must be present; a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials, and a real reason to go there (3). Foster also describes vampirism is not only about vampires in a literal sense, “But it’s also about things other than literal vampirism: selfishness,
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In William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, Vizzini sets out on a quest with Inigo and Fezzick to kidnap Princess Buttercup and frame the Guilderians’ for killing her. Vizzini and his men travel across the Florin Channel to the Cliffs of Insanity where they plan to leave Buttercups’ dead body in Guilder (Goldman 96). However, his plan for kidnapping goes awry when another ship is following them across the Channel (Goldman 101). Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzick are faced with the challenge of trying to beat the Man in Black in fencing, a battle of strength, and finally, a battle of wits. In the end, each of the three men are defeated by the Man in Black, allowing Vizzini to come to the realization that perhaps he is not as intelligent as he thought he was (Goldman 160). In William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” a son is torn between telling the truth about crimes being committed by the father, Abner Snopes, or by lying and protecting him from the law. Sarty, Abners youngest son, goes on a quest to determine whether or not he should betray his father or he should lie for his father and keep the family’s trust. One of Sarty’s main challenges on his quest is his father is abusive and does not allow for Sarty’s mother to care for Sarty’s wounds (Faulkner 198). Sarty decides to tell someone of his father’s plans to burn another barn, thus realizing he would be better off without his family. In Edgar Allan …show more content…
In The Princess Bride, Prince Humperdinck finds humor in his acts of being a vampire and finds it funny he finally gets the chance to kill someone. Prince Humperdinck finds amusement in reminding Westley of the great love and happiness he could have had with Buttercup, “in all this world, you might have been happy, genuinely happy,” after his statement, he turned the dial of his Machine to twenty and killed Westley (Goldman 260). Dissimilarly, Faulkner’s Abner Snopes does not find humor in his acts of being a vampire, but rather, he is just a father, who does not treat his family they way he should. Abner is a vampire toward his family because he cares so much about trusting his family and sticking to family blood. Abner tells Sarty, “You got to learn to stick to your own blood, or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to” (Faulkner 199). Prince Humperdinck finds humor in his actions and Abner, a typical father who believes being faithful to the family is more important, but does not treat them as he should. The narrator from “The Black Cat” reflects upon his vampire characteristics and is aware of the fact that he was a drunk. After he had killed his wife, the narrator thought to himself, “This hideous murder accomplished, I set myself forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the
In William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, Vizzini sets out on a quest with Inigo and Fezzick to kidnap Princess Buttercup and frame the Guilderians’ for killing her. Vizzini and his men travel across the Florin Channel to the Cliffs of Insanity where they plan to leave Buttercups’ dead body in Guilder (Goldman 96). However, his plan for kidnapping goes awry when another ship is following them across the Channel (Goldman 101). Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzick are faced with the challenge of trying to beat the Man in Black in fencing, a battle of strength, and finally, a battle of wits. In the end, each of the three men are defeated by the Man in Black, allowing Vizzini to come to the realization that perhaps he is not as intelligent as he thought he was (Goldman 160). In William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” a son is torn between telling the truth about crimes being committed by the father, Abner Snopes, or by lying and protecting him from the law. Sarty, Abners youngest son, goes on a quest to determine whether or not he should betray his father or he should lie for his father and keep the family’s trust. One of Sarty’s main challenges on his quest is his father is abusive and does not allow for Sarty’s mother to care for Sarty’s wounds (Faulkner 198). Sarty decides to tell someone of his father’s plans to burn another barn, thus realizing he would be better off without his family. In Edgar Allan …show more content…
In The Princess Bride, Prince Humperdinck finds humor in his acts of being a vampire and finds it funny he finally gets the chance to kill someone. Prince Humperdinck finds amusement in reminding Westley of the great love and happiness he could have had with Buttercup, “in all this world, you might have been happy, genuinely happy,” after his statement, he turned the dial of his Machine to twenty and killed Westley (Goldman 260). Dissimilarly, Faulkner’s Abner Snopes does not find humor in his acts of being a vampire, but rather, he is just a father, who does not treat his family they way he should. Abner is a vampire toward his family because he cares so much about trusting his family and sticking to family blood. Abner tells Sarty, “You got to learn to stick to your own blood, or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to” (Faulkner 199). Prince Humperdinck finds humor in his actions and Abner, a typical father who believes being faithful to the family is more important, but does not treat them as he should. The narrator from “The Black Cat” reflects upon his vampire characteristics and is aware of the fact that he was a drunk. After he had killed his wife, the narrator thought to himself, “This hideous murder accomplished, I set myself forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the