What is the premise?
Casablanca * Psychological Self-Revelation
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- PLOT TECHNIQUE THEMATIC REVELATION
- 22. New Equilibrium
| Casablanca * Psychological Self-Revelation Rick regains his idealism and a clear sense of who he really is. * Moral Self-Revelation Rick realizes that he must sacrifice to save Ilsa and Laszlo and that he must rejoin the fight for freedom. * Revelation and Double Reversal Renault announces he's become a patriot too and will join Rick on the new path. 21. Moral Decision Once the hero learns the proper way to act in the self-revelation, he must make a decision. The moral decision is the moment when he chooses between two courses of action, each of which stands fora set of values and away of living that affects others. The moral decision is the proof of what the hero has learned in the self- revelation. By taking this action, the hero shows the audience what he has become. Casablanca Rick gives Laszlo the letters, makes Ilsa leave with him, and tells Laszlo that Ilsa loves him. He then heads off to risk his life as a freedom fighter. PLOT TECHNIQUE THEMATIC REVELATION In Chapter 5, "Moral Argument" I talked about the thematic revelation as a revelation gained not by the hero but by the audience. The audience sees how people in general should act and live in the world. This allows the story to grow beyond the bounds of these particular characters to affect the audience in their own lives. Many writers shy away from this advanced technique because they don't want to sound preachy in their final moment with the audience. But done properly, the thematic revelation can be stunning. 35 KEY POINT The trick is in how you draw the abstract and the general from the real and the specific of your characters. Try to find a particular gesture or action that can have symbolic impact on the audience. 22. New Equilibrium Once the desire and need have been fulfilled (or tragically left unfulfilled, everything goes back to normal. But there is one big difference. Because of his self-revelation, the hero is now at either a higher or a lower level. Download 0.98 Mb. Share with your friends:
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