Famine in rural Ireland forces a loving father to make a dark deal with a pagan spiritual entity to feed his family. When the bond is broken he must choose between losing his child or his soul to settle his debt.
Categories: Fantasy
8 reviews
giannisggeorgiou:
Re:
>>>what is the action that drives Act II?
As far as I can tell, the deeds the farmer performs and the consequences that follow from the terms of the contract? he made with the devilish spirit.? For eventually he has a change of heart.? I take "when the bond is broken" to mean he stops performing his end of the deal.
It's perfectly legitimate for a protagonist to make a wrong choice at the end of Act 1 and then have a change of heart later (either at the MPR? midpoint reversal) or end of Act 2.)? ?After which? the action and objective goal might shift into reverse gear.? ("Groundhog Day" is a good example.? In the 1st 1/2 of Act 2, Phil Connor's objective goal is to exploit for personal gain and pleasure the fact that he's time-trapped in?Punxsutawney, PA.? But after the MPR , his? objective goal and m.o. change: he uses the day to help others and learn new skills.)
Anyway, like you I would like a clarification of the pact the farmer has made.? What is he supposed to do to fulfill his end of the bargain?? Worship the devilish spirit?? Or...?
giannisggeorgiou:
Re:
>>>what is the action that drives Act II?
As far as I can tell, the deeds the farmer performs and the consequences that follow from the terms of the contract? he made with the devilish spirit.? For eventually he has a change of heart.? I take "when the bond is broken" to mean he stops performing his end of the deal.
It's perfectly legitimate for a protagonist to make a wrong choice at the end of Act 1 and then have a change of heart later (either at the MPR? midpoint reversal) or end of Act 2.)? ?After which? the action and objective goal might shift into reverse gear.? ("Groundhog Day" is a good example.? In the 1st 1/2 of Act 2, Phil Connor's objective goal is to exploit for personal gain and pleasure the fact that he's time-trapped in?Punxsutawney, PA.? But after the MPR , his? objective goal and m.o. change: he uses the day to help others and learn new skills.)
Anyway, like you I would like a clarification of the pact the farmer has made.? What is he supposed to do to fulfill his end of the bargain?? Worship the devilish spirit?? Or...?
My reading is:
"Famine in rural Ireland forces" = inciting incident
"a loving father to make a dark deal with a pagan spiritual entity to feed his family" = the protagonist's decision that sets the plot in motion.
A concern here is we don't know what the dark deal is, what the father must do per the deal he has made in the 1st half of Act 2 that enables him to feed his family.
"When the bond is broken"? = the MPR, the midpoint reversal.
""he must choose between ..." = the ultimate crisis, the central dramatic dilemma created by the plot.
It's a classic deal-with-the-devil plot.? The farmer has made a Faustian bargain.? And all such bargains comes with fine print, a "gotcha" clause,? that the protagonist ignores, or discounts the possibility he will ever have to? deal with.? And initially,? it seems like a sweet deal.? The devil delivers on his end of the bargain... until the MPR? when the protagonist wants out of the contract.? But he can't get out of it except at the terrible cost of losing what he loves most.