The Lawyer and Death
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Authors
Johnson, Jordan
Issue Date
2002
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
For this screenplay, I have
extracted what I consider to be the essence of the timeless Russian fairy tale "The Soldier
and Death," and placed it in a modern context. This story of a man who tries to rise
above his station in life and confront the very nature of reality has always been one of my
favorite fairy tales. It is unfortunate that "The Soldier and Death" has not really entered
the canon of traditional American fairy tales, and part of the reason I chose this particular
story has its roots in my desire to help raise people's awareness of this rich and wonderful
fable. By studying the fairy tale, cycling it through my consciousness, and reinterpreting
it as an entirely new story, it is my hope to combine two often disparate aspects of the
study of English: literary analysis and creative writing. My goal in doing this is to breath new life into a story that I feel still carries weight in contemporary culture; a tale that for
all of its antiquity still has important things to say about the nature of our existence in the
modern world. Whether or not I have accomplished this goal is a question that I must
leave to the reader. While the majority of the story is my own invention, I have liberally
appropriated essential plot elements and structural components from the fairy tale.
Basically, this is not entirely my story, per se, as I have borrowed the heart and soul of its
message from others. But then, those whom I have borrowed from didn't come up with it
either, and neither did those that served as their sources. We are all just links in a long
line of transmission with no discernible beginning and no foreseeable end. It is my
privilege to take my place in this chain, and I can only hope that I have honored my
predecessors by doing this story justice.
Description
viii, 99 p.
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License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.