Stories Always Mean Something

Here is your first lesson in literary analysis:

Stories always mean something.

There's an old story that many writers use as a "plot template" for works that they are drafting. "A man sits in a tree. They throw rocks at him. Then, he gets down from the tree."

Think about it. It suggests that there is a person who is in an elevated position, but he meets hard times. Is that all there is to it?

Look at it more carefully. What might the tree represent? Nature? Isolation? Growth? And what associations are made with hurling rocks? Aggression? Jealousy? Or justice?

Some other questions to ask: How does he get down from the tree? What if a rock knocked him in the head and he fell down dead? Or what if he dodged them all and avoided or escaped the trouble? Why does it have to be a man; why can't it be a woman? Why do they throw stones, not grapes? Who are they? Why does He have to get down? And finally, so what? What does it all mean anyway? What universal truths are conveyed in this little story?

These are some basic types of questions we're trying to answer this year.

Let's get to work.