Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not)
As a girl whose summer is being spent with an entire focus towards dance, I've had a burning desire to avoid the wrath of this English summer assignment. However, I reluctantly opened “How to Read Literature like a Professor” by Thomas C. Foster; no worries, that was only a few days ago. Slowly but surely, I plunged into chapter one and came across an unexpectedly enticing section, referring to the meaning and actions of a quest. As I was reading, I found myself undergoing an epiphany of how my life may as well contain a quest at this very moment. (a) Quester – myself, (b) A place to go – finish my assignment while away in Iowa, (c) A stated reason to go there – I’ll receive a satisfactory grade, (d) – Challenges and trials en route – dance class, bathroom breaks, a rumbling stomach, desperate friends, and a desire to explore a foreign city, and (e) A real reason to go there – finding that this book actually is quite an appealing “taste” of literature, which is already evolving my views on life through the captivating chapter numbered one.
From there on, I disregarded any preconceived ideas towards this book and also realized that I had a stereotypical idea as to what a quest actually was. I had first thought that a quest needed to be very dramatic and complex, involving a hero who travels far to save his one and only true love from life threatening disaster – basically a far out mushy love story. However, with no more ignorant expectations as to what this book might have to offer, I find that my judgmental opinions were once again incorrect.
Foster addresses that a quest could be extreme, including far away travels and violence; but, often in an everyday life situation, it is not. Putting my own pieces of a puzzle together by forming an obviously lame quest was a stretch; however, I’d like to make a more fitting observation with a connection to the movie The Proposal and its tangled journey. Basically, Margret is the “quester” - (a) She is traveling to Sitka, Alaska (b) from the risk of being deported per her expired Visa (c). She comes across numerous conflicting circumstances including Andrew’s resentment towards her, Andrew’s true love Gertrude, Andrew’s family who is undeniably the most compassionate family you will meet (excluding his stingy father), Andrew’s father’s disbelief in their love, and the Inspector who has not once believed in their claim to be honestly engaged (d). However in this labyrinth voyage to prove their so claimed camaraderie, they do in fact, with all sincerity, find love (e). Love ultimately turns out to be the intended goal of the quest, or as Foster stated in bold, "The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge." In this situation, Margret and Andrew realize they’re in love.
Ending the chapter, Foster touches on the fact that every outing is not always intended to be a quest. There are times when the author only needs his character to get to school or to get to dance or to go home. However, most trips are quests. This conflicting matter can be chosen through the different perspectives as it is approached. In my mind, I am just driving to school and getting to class to listen to yet another lecture. Another person, however, might see me stopping by to pick up my friend and sitting in over an hour of traffic and tripping over my shoelace as I walk towards the school and dropping my book as I head to class all as sources of challenge to myself reaching my end goal of self- knowledge (which in this case actual education). So in a way, quests are determined by the angles you approach it at. It’s easy for an individual to fall into routine and not even realize the quests they undergo daily. But I bet I’m not the first to deny that these “quests” are noticeable enough to affect me.
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