Obtaining

Disciplines > Storytelling > Plots > Polti's Situations > Obtaining

Description | Discussion | See also

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Description

Elements

• A Solicitor

• An Adversary who is refusing

or

• An Arbitrator
• Opposing Parties

Summary

A Solicitor requests something of the Adversary, who refuses to cooperate.

Or, there are Opposing Parties who cannot reach agreement and so their dispute is resolved by the Arbitrator.

Variants

A

1. Efforts to obtain an object by ruse or force

B

1. Endeavour by means of persuasive eloquence alone

C

1. Eloquence with an arbitrator

Discussion

When one person wants another to do or provide something but the second refuses, a tension arises between the people involved. This interpersonal conflict can be the basis of many stories.

Such conflicts are common in our daily lives and we recognize ourselves in stories such as where those who have refuse to give to those who do not.

Where physical conflict is impossible or undesirable, the parties may turn to someone else to help resolve the situations. For this third person, arbitration is only one of ten possible roles. This person can thus take a heroic role in saving the day and may be the main protagonist or a relatively minor helper.

'Obtaining' is the 12th of Georges Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations.

See also

Review: The Third Side