"Why Do We Even Have That Lever?"

This month in AP English we have sampled many different areas of English. From discussing literature to understanding the simple foundation of literary terminology, we have had a taste of everything. Upon receiving the notes for the second group of literary terms, I happened to take interest in a particular term: digression.

The concept of digression fascinated me in many ways. The term describes material that is unrelated to the subject of a work, so why does it even exist? Perusing the depths of my memory, I looked for examples of digression in the works of literature I have read. In many pieces, such as Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and Rand's The Fountainhead, I found the unnecessary addition of information, usually involving the description of something. In The Fountainhead, Rand had a propensity to describe every detail of every building, object, etc. Although in some cases one could argue the importance of a particular description, I believe Rand's 700 page masterpiece could have easily been trimmed to a still very accomplished 500 paged feat. Digressions such as the ones in The Fountainhead seemed utterly superfluous, yet I decided to keep an open mind and searched for useful digressions outside of literature.

Always looking for useful literary connections to defend my love for Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, I searched for useful digressions in the movie. To my great excitement, I found just what I was looking for. In a scene where the movie's villainess, Yzma, and her dim-witted henchman, Kronk, travel to her "secret lab," the two encounter a wall with two levers on it. One lever would lead them to the lab, while the other would activate a trapdoor causing its victim to fall into crocodile-infested water. Naturally, Kronk pulls the wrong lever, causing Yzma to fall into the dangerous water. Why did the writers of the movie choose to include this digression when correct lever would continue the plot? I came to the realization that this rather humorous digression was used for comic relief. In the words of Yzma, my discovery was "brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say!"

Encouraged by my discovery of a use for a digression, I have reformulated my opinion of the term. I still retain my former opinion that in many cases digressions are unnecessary to the entirety of a work. However, I believe in certain instances, digressions can be used for entertaining an audience, especially through comedic use. There is a fine line between useful and useless digressions. So, I challenge any current "digression happy" author who happens to read this blog to ask yourself, "Why do we even have that lever?"