3. Violation of interdiction

Disciplines > Storytelling > Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale > 3. Violation of interdiction

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Description

Symbol: d (delta)

Guess what? The hero ignores the interdiction (warning not to do something) and goes ahead.

This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.

Example

In Star Wars, Luke ignores his uncle and goes in search or R2D2.

Discussion

This acts to further increase tension. We may want to shout at the hero 'don't do it!' But the hero cannot hear us and does it anyway.