Friday, September 18, 2020

Week 4 Story: Damon and Samantha

*An updated version of this story can be found in my portfolio, which is located here!*

 
Samson and Delilah by Lucas Cranach, 1537

    There once was a girl named Samantha who was the most coveted being in all the land. She was called a witch for her supernatural powers of strength and healing, but in reality, even she knew not the source of her magic. All she knew was that her mother told her to never cut her hair, for it held her powers in its strands. One day, she happened upon a man named Damon. He was known throughout the land for his manipulative and cunning ways, but Samantha was blissfully unaware of this fact. In her ignorance, she easily fell for him and his way with words. She felt safe with him, trusting him with her deepest secrets. 
    In the night, the soldiers from the royal guard came knocking on the door of the two lovers' home, seeking Samantha. Humans tend to fear what they do not understand, and this was no different when it came to the young woman's powers. She was wanted for witchcraft and was to be thrown in prison but first the king wanted to destroy the source of her abilities. The guards easily bribed Damon with the promise of jewels and wealth and convinced him to find the source. 
    When Samantha awoke, Damon asked, "My love, there is one thing you have not told me about you. What is the source of your magic?" Samantha said "If you bind my fingers and toes together, I will no longer have powers." So that night Damon bound her fingers and toes and called upon the royal guard, but Samantha easily escape her bondage. The next day Damon asked again, "My love, you lied to me and made me look like a fool. Tell me, what is the source of your magic?" Samantha said "If you place a crystal in my mouth and shut it, I will have no strength." Once again, in the night Damon placed a crystal in her mouth and called the guard, but she still had strength to escape. 
    On the third day, Damon asked her again, "Samantha. You have made me a fool twice now. I ask you to trust me because I would never do anything to hurt you. What is the source of your power?" Samantha was greatly troubled and would not give him an answer, but pondered this for days while Damon kept asking. Eventually she could bear his questioning no more. She finally told him, "The source of my power lies in my hair. If you take a razor and cut off my locks, I will be powerless." That night after Samantha was asleep, Damon took a razor and cut her hair clean off. He called upon the royal guard, and this time Samantha had no power left in her. She struggled and fought, but she was weak and weary. She was bound and carried to the palace, where the king sentenced her to prison for the rest of her days. 

Authors Note: The original story comes from the Bible Women's unit and is the story of Delilah and Samson. I wanted to swap the genders and do a more Medieval re-telling of the story, so that's what you read here. 

Bibliography: "Delilah" from the book of Judges, New King James Version. Web Source

3 comments:

  1. I can't believe it took me as long as it did to catch on to Damon and Samantha being a gender swapped Samson and Delilah. It may be because I am up late reading. The names and the story kept kind of tickling my brain but it took a long time for my thoughts to catch up! Well done, you confused your sleepless classmate. :)

    Really though I enjoyed the way this was written. Nothing felt strange or forced about swapping your characters around and I enjoyed reading it.
    -Eli

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  2. Hi, Rachel!

    I like the way you setup the story. It is a good amount of helpful information for the story that is delivered quickly and concisely. We know that Damon is bad, Samantha is magic and we know there's something up with her hair. It's a great start to a tale when it's as short as these posts are.

    I do have some questions. Why doesn't she know that Damon is a sneaky, bad guy. If everyone else is aware of this, how come she isn't? I think making that clear would help lend to the ignorance and accepting nature of the character. Also, why does she keep telling him ways to try and take her powers? It's super clear what he's up to after the first one. Why does she want that to continue to happen? Is she being threatened? Is there stockholm syndrome setting in? It just feels a bit weird that she does very little to protect herself.

    If you do a rewrite, I would suggest that you add in a bit of dialogue or action for Damon that gives Samantha a reason to stick around. Have him legitimately hold her captive or promise her gifts.

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  3. Hi Rachel!
    I enjoyed your story quite a bit!
    I think it's fun that you did a gender-swap, it's a nice and easy way to twist a story and make it more unique!
    I do have to wonder though, while it is believable that Samantha may not have been able to figure out that Damon was manipulative and deceitful at first, why didn't she realize it once he tried to turn her in twice?
    Was there a particular reason she would stay and ultimately trust Damon with her secret, when he had already tried to block her powers using the false methods she told him not once, but twice?
    If that was something that was just a carry-over from the original story, it might have been good to add things like that to your author's note, since it would help readers understand why Samantha may have made the choices she did.

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