Final Paper

My final paper dealt with Sexson's claim that "there are no original stories". Upon first hearing this statement I was confused, slightly aggitated, and a bit unsettled. How could there be no original stories? So I went on a mission, a mission to find originality in the stories which surround my everyday life (television, life, music, books, etc.). What I found only furthered my frustration; there was no genuine originality that I could see, everything around me was either bits and pieces of other stories embodied in a different manner or exact retellings (mostly through television/movies). However is it not foolish, and even naive, to think that in a world where human beings have been roaming the planet for several hundred-thousand years that there could be a story that was not a retelling of a prior one, or an event that hasn't previously occurred in a very similar manner but with some differences? I think that it is not the human condition to accept life as a retelling though, but that there is a neccessity people today seek in originality to console themselves and feel like more than just a number in a system or a dot on the map. So we search for this originality, never allowing ourselves to accept its falsity, or simply being ingnorant of it. However I believe that seeing our stories as retellings or similarities can actually be of more use to us; we can take solice in knowing that others have gone before us, that our stuggle is not ours alone, at times these links between stories can even serve as a source of laughter, and they can always serve as a source of learning. So, don't fret knowing that you're not completely original, but take comfort in it.