River of Insanity: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"We were waist deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fool said to push on!"''|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist_Deep_in_the_Big_Muddy Pete Seeger]}}

 

 

This tends to broadly describe any expedition that involves a hopeless journey along a set path (or path of least resistance) to an unfamiliar (possibly [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|hopeless or nonexistent]]) destination. Often this involves a boat and a river. This trope explains why [[Genre Savvy]] adventurers know to avoid river expeditions at all costs, even though it is usually the fastest way of penetrating the interior.

[[River of Insanity]] more generally describes a doomed voyage "into the wild" (usually focused on the trip itself), since examples show that [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism|almost any]] wilderness voyage in fiction, especially by boat, is doomed from the start, either because of the [[Genius Loci|river itself]] or [[Going Native|the natives]] or [[Go Among Mad People|cabin fever]]. [[The Captain]] of such an expedition will often be the [[Determinator]], willing to press on regardless of cost, [[Dwindling Party|until only he is left]]. Far from being [[Karma Houdini|honored]] for his perseverance by the [[Earn Your Happy Ending|reward]] of a legendary destination, [[God|the author himself]] may mock him for his efforts.

 

 

Contrast [[Late to The Party]] (in which the destination is known because of a [[Distress Signal]]). See also [[Send in The Search Team]]. The journey to get there is usually glossed over in that trope. For the exact opposite of this trope, see [[Walk Into Mordor]]; in which the destination is pre-determined, and there is no set path, such as a river, to follow -- only obstacles -- such as [[Climbing the Cliffs of Insanity]].

 

See also [[Dwindling Party]] and [[Inevitable Waterfall]]. This trope may overlap with [[Wild Wilderness]] often with dark results.

 

== [[Film]] ==

** The latter book is called ''[[The Dark Tower (Literature)/The Waste Lands|The Dark Tower]]'', and the path of the beam takes them down along a river that empties into a [[Apocalypse Wow|vast radioactive rift]] in the earth. Nuff said.

* In the ''Swan's War'' trilogy the heroes travel down the river and to adventure the whole first book. They actually do much good in the standard epic fantasy way, but a [[Genius Loci|river spirit influences one of them]] and he never really recovers and dies one year later by what is implied to be suicide.

* There is a book called ''Who Is The River'' that is about two guys going up a river in South America. The point of the trip was to find a set of ruins and make their careers. It didn't work.

* In the ''Seventh Sword'' trilogy, there is only one river and this river connects all the cities of the world. Because the river symbolizes the power of the goddess that controls the planet, the river can flow in either direction and ships that travel on her waters may drop anchor in one location at night and mysteriously re-appear elsewhere by morning. Not only that, but {{spoiler|the river is inhabited by flesh-eating fish that appear within seconds of someone entering the water}}.

[[Category:Plots]]

[[Category:River Of Insanity]]