Challenge 387 Response
“Pit of Sorrows”
by Terry Hamel
In Terry Hamel's “Pit of Sorrows”:
1. Why is Tyrane saved from the Pit?
It was his desire for revenge and anger at the injustice of it all that saved him, because it was then that the spirits knew Tyrane would join them. Once he felt their sorrow and pain he knew it was the right thing to do, even if it was murder.
2. What might the setting of the story be; where might it take place?
An old, long gone city now buried deep in the sands of time only to be revisited through myth and legend.
3. Tyrane has the last word. What does it imply?
That the true criminal will be punished and as far as Tyrane is concerned it is Lysak. At the same time it’s a throwback at Lysak for his previous comments about Tyrane, and now the tables have turned.
4. How might the story be written other than as a fantasy?
It could be written as a crime story with Tyrane being a common thief being held over the edge of a building and Lysak a bad cop... so many possibilities.
Copyright © 2010 by Terry Hamel
The spirits of the Pit have all felt the same as Tyrane does. What, then, makes Tyrane special, and why is he saved and selected as the spirits’ avenger? As I see it, the reason is that Tyrane calls Lysak’s bluff and does not yell “mouse” after Lysak cuts him loose.
As for Tyrane’s last words to Lysak, he does to Lysak what Lysak had done to him and others. Do not Tyrane’s words apply to himself as well?
I’m not sure other modes than fantasy are possible. In realistic mode Tyrane would have to survive the fall somehow. The actual story implies that Tyrane comes back from the dead and completes the cycle of vengeance by repaying Lysak’s “unspeakable” acts with his own “criminal” one. While readers will sympathize with Tyrane’s motives, the story nonetheless ends where it began.
