In Our Day The Conventional Element In

Every Human Society Possesses A Mythology Which Is Inherited, Transmitted And Diversified By Literature.

Teaching Literature Is Impossible; That Is Why It Is Difficult.

Characters Tend To Be Either For Or Against The Quest. If They Assist It, They Are Idealized As Simply Gallant Or Pure; If They Obstruct It, They Are Characterized As Simply Villainous Or Cowardly. Hence Every Typical Character...tends To Have His Moral Opposite Confronting Him, Like Black And White Pieces In A Chess Game.

The Metaphor Of The King As The Shepherd Of His People Goes Back To Ancient Egypt. Perhaps The Use Of This Particular Convention Is Due To The Fact That, Being Stupid, Affectionate, Gregarious, And Easily Stampeded, The Societies Formed By Sheep Are Most Like Human Ones.

The Kind Of Problem That Literature Raises Is Not The Kind That You Ever 'solve'. Whether My Answers Are Any Good Or Not, They Represent A Fair Amount Of Thinking About The Questions.