The Kilted Writer

When Siddhartha leaves the followers of Gotama , he encounters a ferryman who allows him passage for no charge. The ferryman is a kind man for whom Siddhartha seems to have some level of admiration. Later, after leaving Kamala and Kamaswami , he meets the ferryman once again. The Spirit Character: Vasudeva Vasudeva has spent many years learning from the river. He has learned many important life lessons from his time alone on the river. Siddhartha is very intelligent, but Vasudeva is very wise. "I only know how to listen, to be devout; otherwise, I have learned nothing." After leaving Kamala and coming to river, Siddhartha wants to drown himself in it. Before he is able to complete the task, he hears the river speak to him and give him peace. It is the first of many lessons Siddhartha learns from the river while staying with Vasudeva. Later, he learns about the nature of time and eternity from the river. When he explains it to Vasudeva, the old ferryman l...

(Note: This post was originally written in June 2013) As I was giving the "Brains, Brawn & Bravado" workshop to the Parker Writers Group (thanks for having me, PWG!) this past weekend, I realized something. Siddhartha's transformation mirrors that of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol . Both start their transformation journey with a mind character, then encounter a body character, and finally encounter a spirit character. Where Scrooge's transformation takes an entire night, however, Siddhartha's takes a lifetime. Body Character I: Kamala After shedding the burden of intellectualism, Siddhartha's eyes are opened to a whole new way of seeing the world. All this, colored and in a thousand forms, had always been there...but in previous times, all this had been nothing to Siddhartha but a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes... For the first time in his life, Siddhartha allowed himself to experience the beauty of the world, and...

Siddhartha is the story of a man's spiritual journey to enlightenment and the trials and tribulations he encounters along the way. Born the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha begins his life studying the scriptures and quickly becomes a highly esteemed holy man. Intellectual pursuits, however, do not lead him to enlightenment, so he decides to live in the ways of the world. This only takes him farther from the enlightenment he seeks. Finally, he discovers peace and accepts all that has happened to him as steps along that path.  In this series of posts, I will show the characters who define each of the stages through which Siddhartha must pass to achieve his enlightenment, starting with the mind character. The Mind Character: Govinda Siddhartha, as a young Brahmin, stands apart from his peers. He is far and above the most learned of the holy men; he knows all the scriptures and can perform all the sacrifices. ...above all, he loved his intellect, his fine ardent th...

In C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe , we see mind, body and spirit clearly in the characters of Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie. Peter Pevensie is a 4th character who is transformed through his interactions with his siblings. This transformation model is common , and especially so in fantasy fiction. At the beginning of the story, Peter just wants to be a leader within his family and doesn't want to have any part of Narnia's struggles. By the end of the story, he is crowned High King of Narnia, Peter, the Magnificent. The Body Character: Edmund Pevensie Edmund cares only about himself. This is illustrated in the story through his obsession with Turkish Delight. He accepts the treat from the White Witch, the personification of evil in the story. He even begins to ignore her as he "...thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate, the more he wanted to eat." The White Witch prom...

One story plot you see many times in the movies is the bad (insert authority figure) who is transformed into a good (insert authority figure), usually through his or her interactions with mind, body, and spirit characters. In Real Steel , Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Benton, a bad father who is transformed into a good father through his interactions with mind, body, and spirit characters. The Mind Character: Max Benton (Dakota Goyo) Max is Charlie Benton's son, but has been living with his mother his entire life. When Max's mother dies, he goes to spend the summer with Charlie. When he discovers Charlie is a robot boxer, Max is excited and starts talking about various robot fights he's seen or read about. When Charlie's new robot seems to be malfunctioning, Max speaks to it in Japanese and the robot responds. When Charlie takes his new robot to fight, Max argues they should play it safe, take an undercard, and win a little money rather than taking the ...

Here is another case of a true story being told using mind, body, and spirit characters . In this case, a fourth character is transformed by the other three. You can look back at my post about ' We Are Marshall ' and ' Rudy ' for more information about real-life stories and mind, body, and spirit characters. In this film, a number of different names are used for each character. For example, King George VI (Colin Firth) is also called 'Albert,' 'Bertie,' or 'the Duke of York.' For this analysis, I will use the royal names George (for King George VI), Edward (for King Edward VIII, George's brother), and Elizabeth (for George's wife - not his daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth II). The Spirit Character: Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) Elizabeth is depicted in this film as the perfect supportive spouse. At one point in the film, she describes how she refused George's first two marriage proposals because she didn't...

When it comes to mind, body, and spirit, the theme of the fourth character, the transformed character, is fairly common. The Three Musketeers , Mona Lisa Smile , and Rudy are posts I've done showing how the mind, body, and spirit works to transform a fourth character . Bull Durham is yet another example, with Ebby LaLoosh being the transformed fourth character. The Mind Character: Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) Crash is an aging catcher who is brought to the Durham Bulls ball club for a single purpose - teach the young new pitcher, Ebby LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), how to be a major leaguer. He uses every moment he has with the Ebby, including bar fights, as a teaching moment. One time, after goading Ebby into punching him, Crash tells Ebby, when you get in a fight with a drunk you don't hit with your pitching hand. When Crash goes to bat, he talks to himself, trying to reason out what the next pitch will be and then reasoning out what he will do with it. Baseball, to ...

The examples of brains, brawn, and bravado I have in this blog are obviously weighted toward the genres I prefer. 'Prefer' is the key word here. Every now and then I leap out of my comfort zone and try something outside what I would consider ordinary. That was the case, several years ago, with Mona Lisa Smile, starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. When I thought back, I recalled there might have been mind, body, and spirit characters, but I wasn't sure who they were. When I noticed it was available at the library (I rarely pay for movies) I decided to watch it again and post the analysis here. Julia Roberts plays Katherine Watson, a new professor with a liberal background at a staunchly conservative all-girl's college. In this example, Katherine is a fourth character. If you are unfamiliar with that concept, it was introduced here and has popped up from time to time since . The Mind Character: Betty Warren (Kirs...

I mentioned stories based on true events in a previous post , and in others I've discussed the idea of mind, body, and spirit working to develop a fourth character . In 'Rudy,' the 1993 motion picture depicting of the life of Rudy Ruettiger (played by Sean Astin), these two concepts come together. The main character, Rudy Ruettiger, grows steadily throughout the film, but he must rely on the help of others to reach his goal of playing football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. As before, the comments here are based on the film and not necessarily on actual events. The Spirit Character: Father Cavanaugh ( Robert Prosky ) As I may have said before, spirit characters are often members of the clergy or characters who have deep religious beliefs. Father Cavanaugh gives Rudy hope when he's lost everything. His best friend is dead and his family ridicules him for his dreams. Rudy needs someone to help him once again believe he can achieve those dreams. Fath...

Many times, as you can see in The Three Musketeers , the mind, body, and spirit characters work to transform a fourth character. Nowhere in literature is this so blatantly clear than in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." The three ghosts of Christmas not only display their character in their appearance and actions; they also display it with what they show Ebenezer Scrooge. The Mind Character: The Ghost of Christmas Past The Ghost of Christmas Past has two physical characteristics that stand out above all others. The light that emanates from his head and the belt around his tunic. Light is often used as a symbol of knowledge - that which illuminates the uncertainty of darkness. The Ghost resists Scrooge's efforts to have him cover the light with a cap. The Ghost suggests Scrooge has spent too much time ignoring the lessons of his past and that it's time to revisit them for his 'reclamation.' "You recollect the way?" inquired...

I recently saw "Hugo" and found it to be a wonderful movie. I have not read the book, so I do not know how close one is to the other - I will use what was depicted in the movie for this discussion. "Hugo" was expertly directed (Martin Scorsese) and the story was very well told. The foreshadowing was woven into the story beautifully and the acting was great. I would recommend it to just about anyone who loves movies and the art of movie making. In this story, like the Three Musketeers, the mind, body, and spirit characters work to transform a fourth character - George Melies (played by Ben Kingsley). The Spirit Character - Hugo Cabret ( Asa Butterfield) Hugo is an orphan with a passion for clockwork. His father was a clockmaker and once found an "automaton" hidden in an old museum. He promised to work with Hugo to fix the machine, but before it was complete, Hugo's father died. Later in the film, when the automaton is finally fixed,...

The idea of the mind, body, and spirit characters is not something new. I am currently reading "A Wrinkle in Time," and the characters are unbelievably clear. Even clearer, though, are the Three Musketeers, but here we see a twist - the addition of a fourth character. In "The Three Musketeers," D'Artagnan is outside the mind, body, and spirit circle. In fact, the mind, body, and spirit characters work to mature the fourth character, D'Artagnan, into a true Musketeer. This happens elsewhere in literature, as well. For example, in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," C.S. Lewis 'matures' Peter into the High King of Narnia through interactions with Edward (the body), Lucy (the spirit), and Susan (the mind), but I'll address that story another day. For now, we'll look at "The Three Musketeers." The Mind Character: Athos Athos' introduction is not much, but it is a clear example of 'mind over mat...