Christopher Nolan’s epic modern retelling of The Odyssey has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. There are some people, however, who take issue with the film’s spin on the protagonist’s motivation and how it departs from the original ancient Greek version. Nolan presents an Odysseus shaped by trauma and his guilt over how his actions have violated the core values of his society. I found it an interesting modern approach, but I also would have been happy if the movie had stuck to the story’s roots and focused on the concept of nostos, or homecoming.
The desire to return home is
universally relatable, and a character motivation that rings as true today as
it did in Homer’s time. Think of The Wizard of Oz, which takes Dorothy
and her companions on a journey rife with hurdles and dangers. At the heart of it
all is the belief that there’s no place like home, and our heroine will never
stop striving to get there.
A pining for home underpins true
stories as well as fiction. That was underscored for me on a visit to Frank
Lloyd Wright’s Martin House in Buffalo, New York. Darwin Martin, the
millionaire businessman who commissioned the home, had a rough childhood
involving the death of his mother, family separation, financial struggles, and devastating
loneliness.
Fast forward a few decades and Darwin
is a Buffalo business titan building his dream house. According to the Martin
House docent, the early trauma surrounding his family situation motivated Darwin’s
dream of a perfect home, one where his scattered family could reunite, and an
idyllic haven for his wife and children.
So common and resonant is the
desire for home that I’m surprised I’ve never used it as a character motivation
in one of my own short stories. My characters want lots of different
things—revenge, money, justice, freedom--but none of those things have been in
the service of nostos.
It’s an interesting omission in my own writing, and one that I think it’s time to address. I’ll get right on it as soon as I get home.
Can you relate to the power of home?
There's no place like home. Cozy mysteries focus a lot on returning home or to a specific setting. (And I'm looking forward to seeing this version of The Odyssey.)
ReplyDeleteAnd home can be where the heart is -- even if there are no family ties.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the whole world is talking about the Odyssey. It goes to show you the impact the written word and a story can have that it is being made into a movie centuries later.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with what Ella Winter said to Thomas Wolfe: "You can't go home again." The desire may be there, but the reality is something else.
ReplyDeleteI'm fourth generation on our property, which is ten acres of what was once my great-grandfather's 150 acre dairy farm, so home definitely holds a lot of power over me.
ReplyDeleteMary, this post is stirring an idea for a subplot in a book I haven't started writing yet. Thank you!
There is also Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. Robert Frost
ReplyDeleteThere are so many books that I have read where the main character. has returned home for the following reasons: to help a family member, they inherited some sort of property or because they have some sort of situation such as a failed relationship or loss of job that forces them to return home to start over.
I know when I have traveled somewhere particularly if it has been a long trip, I always look forward to going home and seeing familiar surroundings.
Oh yes. But I find that the home I would like to return to has changed so much that it no longer appeals. It may only be me. I grew up eleven miles outside of New York City. The changes have been vast, from there, I moved to Miami. The last time I returned to Miami, I honestly got lost.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, I did return home. I had no associations to northern Maine, but I spent a lot of time on my great grandfather's farm in upstate New York as a child. My current home shares many similarities in terms of people and lifestyle.
Such an interesting blog and you’re right, it Is great motivation for a character. I did, however, watch a funny reel on Instagram the other day. This man went back to his childhood home and said he felt like a “disoriented ghost.” Having returned to my own childhood stomping, ground decades later, I had to agree with him. Things change, and we change, little stays the same.
ReplyDeleteShari, you mentioned once that "home is where your dishes are in the cupboard." That sums it up for me.
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