Farmboy Saves the World!

[Pielorinho]

Sparrowhawk from A Wizard of Earthsea is more of a "Farmboy threatens the world" story, don'tcha think?

I think these characters used to be called "Everyman" in the medieval morality fables. It's a pretty classic trope. Heck, if I recall correctly, Perseus was a farmboy, or at least a fisherboy, who went on to save the world.

Daniel

 

[myrdden]

like all things in books, when done well I enjoy it. It is just that many writers fail to do things well and that makes these old cliches hard to stomach.

Well put. I agree the "farmboy syndrome" is cliche, but if it is done well with good characters, memorable scenes and some style I find it can make for an enjoyable read.

 

[Starman]

Well put. I agree the "farmboy syndrome" is cliche, but if it is done well with good characters, memorable scenes and some style I find it can make for an enjoyable read.

That's exactly how I feel. I don't mind cliches as long as they are well written cliches. It is nice to read something different sometimes (ie. Perdido Street Station. I don't think anyone was innocent in that).

Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn was another series with the "farmboy who saves the world story" that I thought was well done.

Starman

 

[Argus Decimus Mokira]

Replace 'farmboy' with 'peasant girl', and 'world' with 'France', and you've got Jean d'Arc.

More of a stretch, but it could be said that farmboys saved the Thirteen Colonies from tyranny. Sub in whatever you'd like for "saved" if you're on the other side of the pond.

It's a common enough theme in history to inspire some fiction.

Thanks,
-Matt

 

[Nellisir]

Anonymous farmboy saves world (or princess) is probably one of the world's oldest storylines. See ANY collection of folklore, and look for the guy named Jack.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[ThaDium]

And here I thopught this post was going to be about Superman.

ThaDium

 

[ssampier]

possible association to myth

I think the young man goes on a long journey taps into the power of myth, something rooted in our psyche. It's much easy to identify with a hero that's similar to us. We might not be farm boys, but most of us aren't heroes (at least I'm not). Even if you are a high powered lawyer or great doctor, it's nice to read a story to get "away from it all".

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

It's a pretty common theme in lots of other genres, too (I'd mention Star Wars, but it's really science fantasy anyway).

The author needs to convey a lot of information to the reader to introduce what is going on, keep some background mysterious, etc. It's much easier to do when your main character knows absolutely nothing about the surrounding world, because things are explained to the main character just as they are explained to the reader. If your main character is an expert in everything, it's hard to reveal things to the reader that are already resident in the character's head -- but if he's an idiot, and has to have things explained to him, it's easier to present things to the reader.

I just came back from a long drive during which we listend to two books that used the "farmboy syndrome", aka "main character is an idiot". One was Michael Crichton's State of Fear -- I kept wondering why this lawyer was getting dragged around on commando missions, before it clicked that Crichton needed his main character to be an idiot -- so he'd have an excuse to explain everything to the reader.

The other was a fantasy story -- Eragon -- that takes the farmboy syndrome literally. It's Star Wars meets Terry Brooks meets Ursula Le Guin meets David Eddings -- if there's a fantasy cliche, it's in there (I kept annoying my wife during the drive by popping up with Star Wars quotes appropriate to the story).

 

[Ranger REG]

Anyway, do these types of heroes still appeal to people? These farmers coming in to save the world and all that or are people enjoying the more comlex characters that come with some background already written into them like Elric?

Usually people can relate to folk heroes who come from common "stock," from Luke Skywalker to Clark Kent to Frodo Baggins, even though we pretty much know they're meant for greater destinies.

But it is nice to break the monotony and present complex characters, to appeal our allure toward the "dark and mysterious figure" who emerged out of nowhere, whether he is the reluctant hero (Aragorn) or a Bad-A (Blade).

 

[Greylock]

All this, and not one one reference to "The Princess Bride"? I'm disappointed.

And every Andre Norton char that ever grabbed me in elementary school was a farmboy at the get-go...