Critics condemning Odysseus’ deception of Laertes ignore the demands of narrative structure

Evidence

The long scene in which Odysseus reveals his identity to his father has been roundly condemned by many modern critics. The last of his autobiographical fictions, the skillfully crafted tale he tells Laertes has been described as a “bizarre plan,” as “pointless cruelty” and as a product of Odysseus’ “habit of distrust.” There is of course no question of real distrust; he has nothing to fear from Laertes, as he might have suspected he had from Penelope. But all these judgments should be assessed in the light not only of the difficult psychological situation Odysseus is faced with but also of Homer’s imperatives as a narrative poet. — Homer; Robert Fagles; Bernard Knox, The Odyssey, 297

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle: how literary critics misjudge characters when they ignore the author’s formal constraints — the recognition-scene pattern as a driving imperative behind ‘implausible’ character behavior.
• XREF: connects to: Narrative credibility depends on skill, not factual accuracy. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 56

Broader Connections

• Narrative credibility depends on skill, not factual accuracy. #corroborates (0.55) — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 56