Here's the whole article online:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1335847_1,00.html
An obvious one I thought missing is what I'd call 'Do Your Duty.'
Protagonist starts with nothing, ends with nothing, but manages to stop -
even in a small little way - the world becoming a worse place than it is.
And its opposite too 'Failure to do your Duty' which results in the world
being a worse place than it needed to be. Both I think were frequent themes
in Kipling's short stories.
I guess 'The Phantom Rickshaw' for example could be seen as a common
tragedy, ie a young man overcome by passion and obsession that leads to his
death, but I have always wondered why the narrator of the story who sat by
his bedside didn't do more to help the protagonist survive. So I have
always seen the story as being more complex than a common tragedy.
cheers
Geoff
Brisbane
Australia
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