This is a
Ransom text response responding to the prompt :
"This old fellow, like most storytellers, is a stealer of other men's tales, of other men's lives"
'Malouf uses Ransom to explore the significance of storytelling.David Malouf explores the power of storytelling through
Ransom, a retelling of Homer's
Iliad. Malouf proposes that storytelling gives ordinary humans monopoly over their fates and enables them to create their legacy in a world dominated by Gods. It is these simple stories that Malouf suggests fosters the human experience and acts as a way of connecting humanity together. Through the inclusion of Somax, Malouf establishes the importance of ordinary people in literary tradition. Sotires are not told only about heroes of the era and in
Ransom, it is the ordinary people like Somax who are real heroes. As a paradigm, Malouf himself is a 'stealer of other men's tales' and he is able to examine the power of storytelling through the inclusion or exclusion of detail. Moreover Malouf acknowledges that sometimes stories can be distorted and identities may be robbed, perhaps alluding to his retelling of Homer's epic. In essence, Malouf is intent on exploring the significance of storytelling not only in literary tradition but in normal human experience.
Humans do not have full control in
Ransom, yet Malouf suggests that through storytelling, humans are able to control their fate and choose to live or act in a way that they want to be perceived or remembered. Priam's desire to be perceived as an ordinary man instead of a king propels his doing of 'something new' and 'unheard of' by ransoming his son's body from Achilles. Here, Malouf utilises the imagery of the knot to represent Priam's self-consciousness and his longing to feel like a normal person instead of a 'ceremonial' king whose face is Troy's 'living map'. Malouf also alludes to the fact that when Priam was ransomed, he lost his identity as 'Podarces' and became Priam, the 'price paid'. This transformation from a pampered 'lord of pleasures' to an 'indistinguishable' person is a testament that at any time, Priam could lose everything he has and start all over again. This motivates him to engage in the notion of chance that in a world where Gods interfere, it is also possible for one to alter their fate. This gives Priam the ability to find himself as a normal person, especially a grieving father whose mission it is is to redeem his son. Thus, the act of ransoming gives Priam the ability to be remembered not for the destruction of Troy and his death but for his simple act, an act that 'any man might do'.
Similarly, Achilles' knowledge knowledge of his 'fated' and 'inevitable death leads him to resist it. He, like Priam suffers from the balance of their dual selves as he represses the one in order to fulfil the other. Achilles becomes liberated by the ransom and is able to let go of the rage that had consumed him to be remembered as a father and son in giving Hector'd body back. However, Malouf suggest that living a life worth telling stories is only a 'provisional triumph' because the Gods still have full control over humans, yet they are offered a role to play in their own lives.
Malouf emphasises the need to connect with humanity through the power of story. Somax, the 'chatterer' epitomises what man's connection with nature and life should be. Somax takes pleasure in doing simple things, eating griddlecakes, taking a rest or dabbling his feet in the water. It is these things that Malouf suggest that humans should place emphasis on. The symbolism of the cakes is a representation of the simple things in life and also Priam's isolation with the world. His role as king has detached him from what should become instinctual to him, yet it takes a common man, a carter to remind him that he is a 'chil[d] or nature...of earth, as well as of the Gods. Achilles' liberation from his grief is successful because of the fatherly appeal between him and Priam. Priam invites Achilles to understand that Achilles should have been thinking of Hector as a worthy competitor and not an 'implacable enemy'. Malouf, as a storyteller invites us to consider the power that stories can have over people as it foster the human connection. Like Achilles who is filled with grief and rage, he is able to feel that 'something in him has feed itself and fallen away'.
Through the inclusion of Somax, Malouf has achieved a new meaning of the
Iliad for modern readers. Malouf positions the reader to consider that stories are not told only of about the warriors or kings but also about ordinary people. In Somax, Malouf has given him the courage to face the challenges of life and to go on despite these challenges. For example, Somax does not, unlike Achilles, avenge the death of his son but instead learns to accept it as a fact of life and concludes that 'we go on...[f]or all our losses'. This perception of life and how it functions is epitomised in Somax and as a surrogate of Malouf's authorship, readers are asked to consider the advantages of a simple and ordinary life and how as ordinary people, we can create our own legacy. Here Somax is remembered by readers of
Ransom as a hero as he had the power to influence Priam to liberate him from his restrictive life as king. Despite this, Malouf adds that though stories can be told time after time, sometimes meanings can be lost and identities can be robbed. Perhaps, Malouf himself is alluding to the fact that he has, in a sense, stolen Homer's identity in retelling the
Iliad and discarding the use of epithets and introducing a post modernist view on writing - a focus on psychology and physical and mental challenges and not on the typical protagonist adventure.
Furthermore, somax is robbed of his identity when he became Idaeus and is reduced to a 'hundred [year] old' man who 'drinks too much'. This, Malouf considers is one of the negative aspects of storytelling as sometimes storytellers are discredited for the stories that they tell. This is also present in Priam's recollection of his childhood as his story is ignored because of the reputation he has to uphold as king.
Ransom is a testament to the power of storytelling as a tool of connecting people together, especially in a society overshadowed by restrictions and responsibilities. Malouf also emphasises the control offered by storytelling to create one's legacy as well as storyteller's monopoly over their stories to create meaning for their readers.
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Phew. Didn't think it was going to be this long. It was only three pages on paper