… Unless maybe you can find one of those driving forces I mentioned before , some common thread of human experience that connects us to them – which in the case of Cain and Abel is clear enough : Cain envies his brother . Cain feels less loved by their father than Abel . THAT is what the scene is about , and that is what you must make clear . Not the proper way of loading a shepherd ’ s slingshot in the era before David … as interesting as that may be .
This , then , is the hidden value of choosing the far-flung subject . It sets you out upon the open sea – or strands you in the desert , if you prefer – and the only canteen it provides ( or the only life raft ) is the humanity of your character . Which is as it should be . It is from that perspective that the apparent function of this thing we call “ historical fiction ” – to transport the reader into the past , and to show them just how much the world has changed since then – is revealed to be a pretext . The deeper and more meaningful objective is to render in the clearest relief imaginable the presence of those things that never change . Envy , for instance . The ever-thus .
This has always been my party line anyway – the official , public explanation for why I keep playing this trick . And it ’ s not untrue . However , there is another equally good answer , which I would normally only share with those in the know . But since the reader of this might actually be in that “ know ,” I will make an exception . The other answer is Mr . Bill Ryan . It does seem to be the case that in the life of every remotely happy and / or well-adjusted person , one is almost sure to find one or two transformative teachers who manage somehow to align you to your core – by seeing what ’ s good in you and encouraging it ; by
“ Still , not a day goes by that I don ’ t close the office door and follow that path just a little further , writing and rewriting my scenes , trying to distinguish the things that change from those that don ’ t .”
infecting you with their passion for a given subject ; and by simply being someone you want to do well for .
Mr . Ryan was my Fourth Grade homeroom teacher at Saint David ’ s School back in 1973-74 . I have written about him elsewhere , in fictional guise that I kept thin to make the point that he was not obviously cast in the role of beacon . Fig-shaped , bounded in the middle by thin black belt , black shod , horn-rimmed , Elvis-haired but hardly Elvis-featured .
Brooks Hansen ’ 78
38 • Saint David ’ s Magazine