The Common Theme

"A dim, misty outline of the story that's told so often, of how man once lived in a golden age, or a Garden of Eden, or the Hesperides."

One of the points that really interested me in Frye's second speech is his point of view on the garden of Eden story as the template for all creative literature. The story of the garden of eden is really the perfect example of how our "motive for metaphor" is to re identify with the world around us and to essentially get back to the garden of Eden. I think think its interesting that the more you think of it, the more examples there are that follow this template. Novels such as Harry Potter, where at the beginning Harry is estranged from the whole outside world, but by the end of the book he is integrated into the wizarding world. Also books like Fahrenheit 451 in which the protagonist is isolated and disillusioned but by the end of the book he has found a "garden of Eden" in a group of people that he feels connected to. I just thought it was interesting how many books follow similar templates.
Adam