Here is another purpose a story could fulfill. Sheila has just married Malcolm and she is wondering what kind of story her marriage will be. (Malcolm is probably wondering the same thing but we know Sheila a little better so I will stick with her side of the story.)
Sheila is not stupid. She knows that a lot of marriages fail although she also knows that most succeed. She knows that some marriages devolve into loveless marriages. And, although she doesn't like to dwell on it, she knows that she may spend her entire life loving Malcolm only to have him hit on the thirteen-year-old babysitter starting a new chapter in her story that ends up with him in jail and her marriage in tatters. She believes she knows Malcolm well enough to conclude that this is unlikely but she knows that even good middle aged men and nice teenage girls sometimes do really stupid things that cause lots of wreckage in other people's lives.
So what story does Sheila tell herself about her life to be? Doesn't she tell a story about a kind of journey? And she can tell herself about a journey that is not completed and that she cannot know all the details of but is a story in which she plans to play a certain role. In the years to come she can tell this story over and over again to help keep herself on track. She can say, I don't know the exact details of the story I will live but I know what type of story it will be because it will be the type of story that a character like the character I intend to be will live.
Elinor Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennet, Fanny Price and Anne Elliot have stories like that and telling ourselves stories like that, as well as reading theirs, can help us to keep our lives on track. And aren't you glad none of those four ever settled for their messes?
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