Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?

     The concept in this chapter can be astonishing for many people. After thinking about it for a while, however, I understand the reality of Foster's idea. He writes that all literature stems back from other literature. In fact, every story we've read has been told before. At first glance this seems to be an insult to authors everywhere. I could understand why people would think that Foster is merely saying no one has been original for centuries, but that is not so. His concept throughout this chapter is that every story has it's own twists and ideas of course, but the underlying story has come from other literature.  The thought that "stories grow out of other stories" and "poems out of other poems" is an intense thought. Foster simply means that once an author has made a connection between the new piece of literature they are working on and an old piece of literature the story automatically becomes more alive and deeper in meaning.
     Let's take "The Sun Also Rises" by Earnest Hemingway for example. Where have we seen a love story in which the two that are clearly meant to be together can't seem to make it work, before? Well the first thing any one should think of would be the incredible story of Romeo and Juliet. Of course these two stories have many differences but they have the same underlying story. "The Sun Also Rises" has Brett, a beautiful lady who has several different men falling for her and Mike, her fiancé for most of the novel. Is this recognizable? Wasn't Juliet supposed to marry someone other than her true love, Romeo? At the end of "The Sun Also Rises" Brett calls her good friend Jack, who is desperately in love with her (but know he has no chance) and Brett speaks how they could be so great together. Jack simply replies by saying wouldn't that be nice. Clearly, they would be perfect together but Brett can't get past one small defect Jack has. This is where the story differs from Shakespear's story; Romeo and Juliet can't be together because of a family feud whereas Brett can't get past her selfishness and accept Jack as he is. This is when we realize that although they may be different, they are quite similar as well.
     This is just one example of how literature is all one big story. Foster wants the reader to understand that once we recognize where we have seen the story before, the more we are able to  connect with it.