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The writer who understands
redemption is on the border of
enduring fi ction.
Many great stories are about a character’s redemption—
or the failure to redeem a character. This aspect can lend
real power to an otherwise standard plot.
In A Man for All Seasons the thematic-redemptive
thread is in the Richard Rich character. He is given a
clear moral choice, and chooses to give false witness
against Sir Thomas More for a chance to rule in Wales.
(I love the way Paul Scofi eld delivers that devastating line
to Rich in the fi lm, “Why Richard, it profi ts a man noth-
ing to give his soul for the whole world … but for Wales?”).
The Thomas More character is given the mirror image
choice to give up his principles, and refuses.
In the fi lm The Fugitive, it is not Richard Kimble (Har-
rison Ford) but Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) who is
offered redemption, and takes it. He goes from being the
lawman who says, “I don’t care!” (about the facts, that’s
not his job) to caring for and saving Kimble. “Don’t tell
anybody,” he says to Kimble at the end.
Flannery O’Connor talked about the need of a story
to show “grace being offered.” So it can be either the
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Lead who is offered redemption, or another character
for whom the Lead is the catalyst for redemption. Let’s
see how this works.
•
Braveheart: It’s Robert the Bruce who is redeemed
by William Wallace’s death.
•
The Godfather: Michael (Lead) is offered redemp-
tion (when his wife asks him to tell her the
truth) and refuses it by lying to her face.
•
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Chief Broom is
redeemed via McMurphy.
•
Tootsie: Michael (Lead) is redeemed because he’s
learned how to treat women as human beings.
•
Casablanca: The Lead, Rick, is redeemed when he
decides to rejoin the war effort and get out of
Casablanca, where he had gone to drink himself
to death.
•
Sunset Boulevard: Joe Gillis is redeemed, but too
late (one definition of tragedy).
Redemption is bound up in choice. The right choice
brings about redemption because the wrong choice will
leave the character in a worse moral condition.
The right choice saves the Lead from a damaged life
(the life lived under the power of the negative side of his
inner struggle).
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In Casablanca, Rick, at the beginning, does not care
what happens to other people. “I stick my neck out for
nobody,” he says. We see the inner struggle reflected
on his face when the police arrest Ugarte at Rick’s cafe.
Ugarte begs for his life, but Rick, cheek muscles twitch-
ing, refuses.
At the end, he’s given two choices. He can take an-
other man’s wife (who happens to be his true love, and
who happens to look exactly like Ingrid Bergman), or he
can sacrifi ce his greatest desire, even if it costs him his
own life, for an even greater good.
We all know what happens.
If Rick had taken Ilsa, he would have remained dam-
aged goods. Inevitably he’d continue drinking and knock
Ilsa around.
Now, instead, because of choosing rightly, he goes
off to become a true patriot.
To give your story added depth, envision the redemptive
element. Is it offered to the Lead or to another character?
What choice is made, and what are the consequences?
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