What the @#$% Am I Doing With My Life?: A Series
Chapter 1 - Bildungsroman
One of the best teachers I ever had in High School was my 9th grade English teacher. She taught us the importance of analyzing what we read; breaking down the story into principle characters, identifying themes, isolating literary devices, and understanding the importance of conflict and tension within all narratives. These are tools that have helped develop my reading and writing ability considerably—before this point, I could form 4 word sentences and barely be able to read them back—and consequently, has helped me along in life. Regrettably though, I totally forgot her name. But I still strongly remember some of the things that she taught me.
“The thing that makes a story interesting is conflict.”
This part’s completely true. Who wants to read a story or watch a movie where everything works in favor of the protagonist? Fairy tales need dragons, action movies need German terrorists named Hans and Simon, and all romance movies need a love interest that is obviously completely wrong for the lead character. So let’s identify types of conflict:
- Character vs. Character - “Hey, I don’t like that guy and he doesn’t like me. We have some beef with each other.”
- Character vs. Self - “I’m my own worst enemy.”
- Character vs. Society - “Holy crap, I don’t fit in as ( insert anything ).”
- Character vs. Nature - “I’m going to climb that mountain or die trying.”
- Character vs. God/Supernatural - “I’m going to climb that supernatural mountain or die trying.”
- Character vs. Machine/Technology/’Progress’ - “I’m going to climb that mechanical mountain or die trying.”
- Character vs. Destiny/Fate - “I’m going to climb that mountain of destiny/fate or die trying.”
Yeah, I kinda started to give up coming up with examples for the last couple examples, but all conflict pretty much fit into one of those seven categories.
A Bildungsroman is a $10 word for a specific genre of literature where a character faces some conflicts before changing in some way and essentially growing up. If I were to juxtapose myself into the position of the protagonist of my own Bildungsroman, I could very well say that I have elements these types of conflict, given in descending order: vs. Self, vs. God/Supernatural, vs. Society, vs. Fate, vs. Character(s).
I’ve been dealing with these conflicts… Let me start over, using the word ‘dealing’ makes it look like I’ve been taking an active role in this conflict…I’ve been quite passive in all of this. These conflicts have been staring me in the face with increasing senses of gravity and urgency. Instead of dealing with these conflicts in the leisure and relative protection of adolescence, I waited until I was faced with an existential crisis of self and identity which utterly rocked my socks off. That was a year ago. It’s time to start facing the conflicts before me. I might win some, I’m definitely going to lose some, and maybe I’ll find some reconciliation or compromise along the way; but one thing’s for sure…all of this conflict should lead to an interesting story.
[Academic Text Book Side-Note - ‘Metanoia’ is a Greek phrase that roughly translates to a time that “existentially rocked my socks off.”]
Next time: Chapter 2 - Character vs. Self (John Choi)
