Ten Themes

  • Pursuit
  • Peressure
  • College
  • Quest
  • Madness
  • Fish-Out-Of-Water
  • Redemption
  • Discovery
  • Joke
  • Short Story

Theme Essay

Quest essay

Quests are a big part of stories and cultures, as you follow the hero on his or her adventures. According to Google, the definition of a quest is ‘a long or arduous search for something’. Throughout history this has always been a big part of storytelling and life in general. It still features a lot in today’s society as I will show in this essay.

Historical context

When it comes to the historical side of quests, they have always been a big part of human history. This goes all the way back to the Stone Age where Cave Art shows cavemen going out on ‘quests’ in order to hunt for food or resources to help them survive. Quests are seen as integral to human growth and well-being as it involves the search for something to help the people involved. This may be something like the search for treasure or knowledge, such as the search for the Holy Grail often seen in stories about King Arthur and his men. In these stories the men go in search for the Holy Grail which is seen as the cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, and is seen as giving the person who drinks from it eternal youth and happiness. The search for the Holy Grail is also one of the most well-known quests and is often seen as a metaphor for ‘a thing which is eagerly pursued or sought after,’ according to the Dictionary. This may then suggest that every persons search could be referred to as the quest for the ‘Holy Grail’ as it involves searching for something that the person in question really wants. When it comes to quests in stories, they take great inspiration from real life, with things such as the Religious Crusades in the Middle Ages, and explorers such as Christopher Columbus in the 1940’s having a great influence on those who write about quests. Exciting adventures are often associated with quests, and this may be in large due to those who went on exciting quests such as the discovery of India and America, and just general discoveries made throughout human history. They have a way of enticing people into enjoying them, partly due to the discoveries that can be made during quests.

Importance to society

Quests take a pivotal role in ensuring human discoveries continue to be made. This is not only due to quests for discoveries, but also due to the thirst for knowledge that often comes from those who take the treacherous path of going on quests for the greater good of mankind. Quests are also often the basis for a good story, as it gives us an engaging and new idea for us as readers to follow as the story progresses. This can be anything, from a quest to the shops for some milk to the quest in Shrek 3 to find the King. As long as it’s done well, any quest can be entertaining. When it comes to quests in society, this is something else that has developed along with our own knowledge of the world. Whilst it once would be towards the discovery of new lands, and then the discovery of new medicine and technology to help us develop and prosper, nowadays it is often to rectifying all this as we try to solve climate change and the damage done to our environment. When it comes to the importance in terms of literature and art, quests are one of the most exciting parts of stories and act as a source of escapism for those who need it. It also is one of the best ways to develop characters as you get to see them grow as they make decisions throughout the quests. Society also views quests as very fascinating as they often show your true selves and so many people go on quests in adventure parks in order to help them find themselves. Book series such as ‘Beast Quest’ are seen as very useful in developing children which is why series like these have always been very popular in our culture, which I feel is why quests are important to society.