No matter how low a regard I held it in, all of my experiences, all of the coming-of-age stories I loved, from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to Cool Hand Luke to Stranger in a Strange Land, were steeped in the idiom of the tragic, sacrificial hero. It was the dominant motif of Western scripture, art, and music for two thousand years of history. I couldn’t escape it if I’d wanted to. If we’re honest, none of us can. Believers or not.
