High_Fantasy

What does the term High Fantasy mean' High Fantasy can be defined as a subgenre of fantasy fiction that is set in invented or parallel worlds. Many authors tat we have read for this assignment showcase high fantasy in their work. Other authors that we haven’t read are C.S. Lewis and J R.R. Tolkien who are very well known authors of High Fantasy. Characters of High Fantasy can be characterized as heroes, good versus evil or saga series. High Fantasy is the most popular and successful sub genre of fantasy fiction. Many of the stories are told from the viewpoint of one main hero or heroine (female). Being a hero or heroine is considered to be those who are good and noble or the willingness to sacrifice self for the greater good but then there are others. Looking deeper into the meaning of hero, you realize there are other meanings of it. Below are three stories, all written by women and each of them displays heroine’s who come in all sorts, shapes, and styles. Can a hero be an object' In Zenna Henderson’s “The Anything Box” this story presents you with two different heroes. The first one being the Anything Box to which Sue Lynn can escape from the world around her and go to a peaceful place where there is no drama. Once her Teacher experiences the box, she too wishes for an Anything Box to have so she can too escape. “I remembered the Anything Box. Could I make one for myself' Could I square off this aching waiting, this outreaching silent cry inside me, and make it into an Anything Box'”(301) The next hero in this story is the Teacher. She would be characterized as a Catalyst heroine. A catalyst hero is someone whose main function is to bring about change in others . The Teacher tries to convince Sue Lynn that she shouldn’t solely depend on the Anything Box to make her happy. However in the end the Teacher realized that in end everyone needed an escape of some sort, some imagination. “Alpha would approve. And very possibly, I thought, Alpha would, for once in her limited life, be right. We may need “hallucinations” to keep us going—all of us but the Alphas—but when we go so far as to try to force ourselves, physically into the never-never land of heart’s desire…” (304) In Jane Yolen’s “The Malyasian Mer” she presents you with a Group-oriented hero. These individuals go on a journey that takes to an unknown land far away from home. “That this city was half a world away from her comfortable Salem, Massachusetts, home did not faze her. In England or American she guessed she knew how to look.” (320) Mrs. Stambley was an adventurous person who like antiques and had a sense of where to find them. Group-oriented heroes also have a tendency to separate from the group—have a lone adventure away from the group and then they eventually rejoin the group. Mrs. Stambley started out with the group and then easily slipped away from the group as if she was never part of the group. Mrs. Stambley could sense the magic and adventure of this new land the she has stepped on. She drifted from shop to shop until she reached the fourth shop. “As she entered the fourth shop, Mrs. Stambley caught her breath. The smell was there, the smell of deep-sea magic. So deep and dark if might have been called up from the Mariana Trench.” (321) In this store she stumbled upon a Malaysian Mer. Upon looking into the Mer’s eyes she was eventually transfixed and pulled into the Mer’s world. “Mrs. Stambley tried to open her mouth to scream, but only bubbles came out. All around her it was dark and cold and wet, and still she was pulled downward until she landed, with a jarring thud, on a sandy floor.” While in the sea, she battled the Malaysian Mer with different magic from all her adventures past. In the end Mrs. Stambley won this battle, leaving the Mer there, lying on its back conquered in his recent battle. “Wait, just wait until I tell the group,” she said aloud. Then she threaded her way back to the main street where the other tourist and the guide were coming down the hill.” (325) In Tanith Lee’s “Red as Blood” at first you think that the Witch Queen is the evil one in this story. But then as you read on you realize that Bianca the princess presents the evil characteristics that you might think you would find in the Witch Queen. The story has a Snow White and 7 Dwarfs feel to it, but with a major twist. “I am afraid. I do not like to think of Our Lord dying in agony on His cross. She means to frighten me. Tell her to take it away.” Upon reading the first few paragraphs you feel as if the Witch Queen is evil and make Bianca change some of her ways to become like her. Reading on, you realize that Bianca is a threat because she is a Vampire. The Witch Queen is being threatened by a source that must be destroyed. In the end the Witch must take matters into her own hands and destroy the one source that is a threat to the land. The Witch is considered to be a tragic hero, who in the end her flaw only believed to be one by Bianca wins. Bianca could be considered a Dark Hero to some who wish to follow her. “Through the forest, into the clearing, pushed seven warped, mis-shapen, hunched-over, stunted things. Woody-black mossy fur, woody-black bald masks. Eyes like glittering cracks, mouths like moist cavers. Lichen beards. Fingers of twiggy gristle. Grinning. Kneeling. Faces pressed to the earth. (317) Without Bianca these seven dwarfs couldn’t do anything. She is their dark hero, their lifeline. There are so many different meanings and styles of heroes. Throughout the research, reading about the different types of heroes became so appealing. Each of the high fantasy stories presented does not give you the common hero type that you see in movies or read about. Yes they give you the make-believe worlds with monsters, magic or even maps to adventurous places, but not the common hero. These stories take you in and place you at the locations of each of them. Enabling you to dissect them and come up with your own hero interpretation. Bibliography Henderson, Zenna. “The Anything Box.” The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Roberts, Garyn G. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2003. Page 297-306 Holen, Jane. “The Malaysian Mer.” The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Roberts, Garyn G. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2003. Page 320-325. Lee, Tanith. “Red as Blood.” The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Roberts, Garyn G. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2003. Page 313-320 Waunakee. 1999. 10 Feb 2007 http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/TeachWeb/hansonm/hansonsites/modlit1stqtr/Types%20of%20Heroes.doc%2006.mht Wikipedia. 2007. 05 Feb 2007 www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero Wikipedia. 2007. 05 Feb 2007 www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Fantasy