: Re: What is an arena-driven story? There is an answer here from FraEnrico which is the cause for my question: What is the difference between character-driven stories and plot-driven stories?. Here

@YK4692630

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Stories like Castaway, Gilligan's Island, Lost, and the such would be examples of an environment that is the antagonist. The MC has to survive their surroundings which is threatening their lives or making it more difficult to achieve their goals.

In each of my examples above you have the MC(s) who have to fight the environment with how to survive on an island for possibly the rest of their life while hoping someone rescues them.

One can argue also that a story like The Book of Eli and post apocalyptic stories are also with an environment for an antagonist as they will have to fight the environment to survive (radio active zones, lack of civilized infrastructures). This leads to people controlling precious goods (water, food, oil) which if the MC cannot find a way to barter or get, will fail their journey.

These types of stories are usually about self growth and survival. particularly ones like Castaway where you take someone who is used to modern comforts and have to learn to live without them. By the end, this person understands them self more deeply. Bottom line is they want to live, to survive. In the journey, they will find out just how far they are willing to go to survive (amputate an arm if it get's caught in a rock, betray a fellow stranded person to have food last longer).

Their motivation to survive depends. in Castaway Tom Hanks wanted to deliver his package. That package that he held onto reminded him of his humanity and civilization and that's why it was important that the movie ended with him finally delivering it. In others it might be to see a loved one again, to protect human existence. They all though have a driving cause that keeps them from just letting the elements win and provide them their strong desire to survive.

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