Robert Johnson: The Crossroads Myth

Watch this video and see what you think. Did Robert Johnson, the legendary blues guitarist, sell his soul to the Devil to gain a mastery of the blues guitar?

SOPHS Journal #1 for 3rd quarter: The Stock Character

POST BEFORE Wednesday, January 27.

A stock character is a character type, often a stereotyped character, used repeatedly in genre fiction (like horror, sci-fi, moral tales) and of course, movies and television shows that like to use these character types. Examples include the mad scientist, the blond airhead, the femme fatale (sure, look it up if you don't know what this means), the rags-to-riches hero, and the conniving villain. 

In The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker exemplifies the stock character known as The Miser, one who would value money over everything. You should know the Greek tale of King Midas, a miser who learned, as many do, that wealth isn't everything. Go to this link to read the Midas tale. Tom Walker's wife is the stock shrew, the nagging wife who browbeats her husband.

You've read enough (and seen enough TV and movies) to recognize stock characters, so tell me ...who is your favorite "stock" character?

Define the stock character type you choose and then give me some details about your specific character that proves that he or she is, indeed, "stock." Of course, tell me why you enjoy your character. Choose a character from books, movies, short stories, and television shows. As always, respond with a minimum of 200 words.

I've provided an example for you, namely Ebenezer Scrooge.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly misanthrope (he's a miser--all about money--and he's a misanthrope--a "hater of mankind") in the Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. His love of money and disdain for Christmas characterizes the original Scrooge. Note that the wordscrooge to denote characters like him is now regularly used in our vernacular. Scrooge overworks and underpays his loyal employee, Mr. Bob Cratchit. Cratchit, a good and holy family man, has bills to pay and a crippled son (Tiny Tim) to take care of, but he faces his trying responsibilities with Christian fortitude. He even refuses to admit to his poor family that Mr. Scrooge is a bad man. You might say that Cratchit is a stock character himself, the "poor but happy" fatherly figure whose diligence and Christian piety keep his family in food and clothes.

Back to Mr. Scrooge, who grudgingly allows poor Bob to stay home on Christmas Day, but orders him to arrive earlier the next. He greets holiday well wishers, like his kind nephew, with a "Bah, humbug" that of course, is now universally recognized as the reply of the Christmas Scrooge. Suddenly, however, his world is turned inside-out when he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his former business partner and a scrooge like himself. The forlorn ghost, who now does penance by walking the earth in heavy chains, money boxes, and keys, warns Scrooge to mend his ways, lest he suffer the same fate.

Scrooge is shaken, but falls asleep. During the rest of the well-known story, he is visited by three Christmas ghosts. He then undergoes a miraculous change. The new Christmas-loving Scrooge sends a huge turkey to the Cratchit home, raises Bob's salary, and becomes a surrogate grandfather to Tiny Tim.

This Christmas tale is a story of faith, redemption, and the goodness that lies within us all. These qualities were once buried in Ebenezer Scrooge, but were unearthed in the joyful end of the novel.