Novel Excerpt: The Princess Bride

"Fezzik?"
From the upper door: "What?"
"I'm frightened."
"It looks all right though."
"No. It's supposed to; that's to fool us. Whatever we've gotten be before, this must be worse."
"But there's nothing to see, Inigo."
Inigo nodded. "That's why I'm so frightened"


****


In this part of the story, major characters Inigo and Fezzik are looking for their friend the Man in Black, in Prince Humperdinck's Zoo of Death. There are five levels to the Zoo of Death, each one more dangerous than the last. Fezzik and Inigo have gone down to the fifth level to find their friend. They open the door and see the Man in black lying dead on the ground. Fezzik and Inigo go over to him and lift him up off the dank floor, Inigo shouts , "I am Inigo Montoya, son of Domingo Montoya, and I will not accept this!".


It would have been easy for Fezzik and Inigo to leave the man in black in the Zoo of Death, but instead they overcame and subdued their fears in order to rescue him. They hardly even knew the man, other then that he was the man that beat both of them separately with just his wits.


The Protagonists' decision to step bravely into unfamiliar territory is a decision that is filled with courage. If one can hold back fear with courage then anything can be accomplished. The protagonist does show a clear understanding that boundaries cannot be placed on a person simply because of their fears...