The Power of Story

We all remember stories that have an impact on our lives; the books we read or the movies we saw from our childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

We internalise the characters, their dialogue, idiosyncrasies, their hopes and dreams as if they were ours.

But beyond the story is the bigger ideas, the bigger questions nestled within the text, wrapped up in the books on the character’s shelf or in the pockets of their favourite jacket. We take them, often unconsciously, and slip them between the pages of our notebooks or hide them under our pillows.

The power of the story lies within the big ideas or questions revealed in the narrative. These big ideas and questions find their expression and meaning in the actions and emotions of individual characters going about their day to day business.

The reader understands the narrative as a microscopic view of a telescopic realm. The narrative is a parable of meaning expressed in the actions of fictional characters we believe to be real because we understand their lives as if they were ours.

This is the power of story.