To discover the architecture for your moral argument, copy the criteria below, then describe how your story works with each criterion. You may find your story does not follow the exact pattern, but you may gain some insight when it deviates and why. If your story does not follow the criteria, then explain how/why and how this function is achieved in the story. For example, in some stories the attack by the ally may come from inside the hero/heroine, or the opponent may be a natural force, like a tsunami, or just a really cold Maine night. These are tools for discovery, not templates for fashioning story, so use them that way.
- Values The hero starts with a set of beliefs and values.
- Moral Weakness He is hurting others in some way at the beginning of the story. He is not evil but rather is acting from weakness or is unaware of the proper way to act toward others.
- Moral Need Based on his moral weakness, the hero must learn how to act properly toward others in order to grow and live a better life.
- First Immoral Action The hero almost immediately acts in some way that hurts others. This is evidence to the audience of the hero’s basic moral flaw.
- Desire The hero comes up with a goal toward which all else is sacrificed. This goal leads him into direct conflict with an opponent who has a differing set of values but the same goal.
- Drive The hero and the opponent take a series of actions to reach the goal.
- Immoral Actions During the early and middle parts of the story, the hero is usually losing to the opponent. He becomes desperate. As a result, he starts taking immoral actions to win.
- Criticism: Other characters criticize the hero for the means he is taking.
- Justification: The hero tries to justify his actions. He may see the deeper truth and right of the situation by the end of the story, but not now.
- Attack by Ally The hero’s closest friend makes a strong case that the hero’s methods are wrong.
- Obsessive Drive Galvanized by new revelations about how to win, the hero becomes obsessed with reaching the goal and will do almost anything to succeed.
- Immoral Actions The hero’s immoral actions intensify.
- Criticism: Attacks by other characters grow as well.
- Justification: The hero vehemently defends his actions.
- Battle The final conflict that decides the goal. Regardless of who wins, the audience learns which values and ideas are superior.
- Final Action Against Opponent The hero may make one last action— moral or immoral— against the opponent just before or during the battle.
- Moral Self-Revelation The crucible of the battle produces a self-revelation in the hero. The hero realizes that he has been wrong about himself and wrong toward others and realizes how to act properly toward others. Because the audience identifies with this character, the self-revelation drives the theme home with great power.
- Moral Decision The hero chooses between two courses of action, thus proving his moral self-revelation.
- Thematic Revelation In great storytelling, the theme achieves its greatest impact on the audience at the thematic revelation. The thematic revelation is not limited to the hero. Instead, it is an insight the audience has about how people in general should act and live in the world. This insight breaks the bounds of these particular characters and affects the audience where they live. With a thematic revelation, the audience sees the “total design” of the story, the full ramifications of what it means, on a much greater scale than just a few characters.
Truby, John (2008-10-14). The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller (p. 120). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.