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Sep. 17th, 2011 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cometellstoriesI heard the men grumbling today. "It never rains on a march in the stories," he said.
Which isn't true. I can think of ten good stories off the top of my head that include both rain and marching. It's even freezing rain in some of them. But I think I understood what he was saying, and he's right.
Bad things happen in stories. The world isn't perfect there. Only someone who only ever listens to love ballads and folk heroes would say that. A good story makes you cry and makes you angry. They don't all end happily. Some of them don't make you crack a single smile from beginning to end. And some of those are some of the best ones there are.
But ... this is different.
When it rains on a march in the story, it means something. Even if it's just something subtle and poetic and irrelevant to what's happening, it always means something. It means that there's ill fortune on the horizon. Or means that the elements are trying to hold the men back. Or it means that they're brave enough to press on despite it. Sometimes, all it means is that the mood is dark and soldiers get rained on, but even that is something. When it rains on the march here, it's just damned rain.
Nothing means anything at all.
I don't blame them for being demoralized.
Which isn't true. I can think of ten good stories off the top of my head that include both rain and marching. It's even freezing rain in some of them. But I think I understood what he was saying, and he's right.
Bad things happen in stories. The world isn't perfect there. Only someone who only ever listens to love ballads and folk heroes would say that. A good story makes you cry and makes you angry. They don't all end happily. Some of them don't make you crack a single smile from beginning to end. And some of those are some of the best ones there are.
But ... this is different.
When it rains on a march in the story, it means something. Even if it's just something subtle and poetic and irrelevant to what's happening, it always means something. It means that there's ill fortune on the horizon. Or means that the elements are trying to hold the men back. Or it means that they're brave enough to press on despite it. Sometimes, all it means is that the mood is dark and soldiers get rained on, but even that is something. When it rains on the march here, it's just damned rain.
Nothing means anything at all.
I don't blame them for being demoralized.
