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Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon . . . is not the dragon the hero of his own story?
Erin Morgenstern
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Good and evil are not merely simplistic concepts but are nuanced and complex, suggesting that every character has a perspective.

This quote highlights the complexity of moral narratives, suggesting that what we often perceive as purely good or evil is actually more intricate. By questioning the traditional roles of heroes and villains, it invites us to consider that every being, including the dragon, has its own story and motivations that shape their actions and choices.

Themes

GoodEvilComplexityHeroStory

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about moral ambiguity in literature, you might say this quote to illustrate the complexity of character motivations.

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It is perhaps both a blessing and a curse that fictional worlds spring into my mind nearly fully formed and it takes quite a while to sift through everything to find the story.
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There is so much that glows in the circus, from flames to lanterns to stars. I have heard the expression “trick of the light” applied to sights within Le Cirque des Reves so frequently that I sometimes suspect the entirety of the circus is itself a complex illusion of illumination” .
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Quote by Erin Morgenstern | QuoteProject