Question 1
Of course it would be rather odd for the Heroic Protagonist like Peter to have to run from the authority, normally in a novel, the protagonist would be the victor, whereas the antagonist is running away from the forces of good. I believe that what Peter did, to run away was a rational choice by a rational person. I think that it is good to run away from your troubles or stay and face it depending on situation, it is more of situational compromise, doing whatever is best for success. Peter ran away when he was weak with no capabilities to retaliate against the powerful Sir Philip, he ran and recuperated, made relations with theatre companies and later with the Queen’s spymaster. After recuperating away from Sir Philip, he fought back against his antagonist and managed to get him arrested.
The author is trying to message us through the text that sometimes the protagonist is not as strong as the antagonist and that retreating or running away from your troubles may be your only choice to win if opposing forces is too strong.
Here is a situation where running away will help…
Example, Mao Zedong and the Long March
Mao, and the People’s Liberation Army of the Communist Party is on the verge of defeat by the antagonistic Guo Ming Dong (Fix to GuoMinTong) (KMT). They then made a massive retreat, just like how Peter in “Cue For Treason” ran away from Sir Philip. The retreat caused hardship to the soldiers participating, like how Peter was reduced to the travelling poor in Elizabethan England. The Long March at the end was successful, they PLA managed to gain strength and support from the farmers and at the end, defeated the KMT in the Chinese Civil War.
Mao Zedong and the Long March shows situational compromises, if you need to run away from your troubles, then do so and recuperate, gather strength and make the final push against your antagonist.
Peter could stand and fight against Sir Philip, but because of his weak power, his retaliation against Philip WILL NOT be enough to win. If Peter do stand, he would probably be caught and probably hanged by Sir Philip’s Justice.
In conclusion, I believe that it is better to run away from your troubles if your situation does not favour you.
Jonathan ZhanOct. 30st
Hi Johnathan, I really like how you used old history to relate to your answer, but in the last sentence of the second last paragraph, there is a small fragment, instead of "do" it should be did. I also think that you could have lengthened your conclusion because I feel it doesn't tie all the loose strings. Otherwise, very well planned and detailed.
ReplyDeleteYour writing its pretty clear and well worded, but I question some things you have. Like your comparison between peter fleeing and the Peoples Liberation Party of Communists' retreat. What Peter did wasn't a retreat, a retreat is when a side goes back to their safety and regroups to try again, whereas Peter just straight ran away from his troubles. I also agree that it would be better to run away from your troubles if the situation does not favour, but for only certain things.
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