Just a Game of Telephone

What does the childhood game “telephone” and literature have in common? Surprisingly, more than one would think. The game “telephone” consists of a group of people sitting in a circle. The first person makes up a sentence and whispers it to the person beside them, who then relays the sentence to the next person, and so on. Once the sentence has made its way around the whole circle, the last person says the sentence out loud. More often than not, the sentence is much different than it originally started. It may have the same meaning, but a couple words or details are usually altered. Interestingly enough, literature can be the same way. A single event can be portrayed through articles, stories, movies, or even songs. All forms and specific parts of each can work together, while also being original, in telling a single story. In the case of the murderer Charles Schmidt, several different forms of literature collaborated to tell relatively the same story. Although the basis of the story was the same, all versions of the story had critical differences. After seeing many different points on the story, it’s important to notice the similarities, differences, and to reflect on why people take such different paths of telling a story. Paralleled to the game “telephone”, even though the story starts the same, it can always end different.

Similarities are what connect any group of things to make them alike. In the case of literature, similarities help us tie together different stories to create one “made product”. Regarding Charles Schmidt, different articles, a song, a story, a movie, and a short skit, all tell the same story. Although each one of the mentioned forms of literature is based on the same event, not every one addresses the event, or even follows the true story. Though this is true, the similarities between the stories allow the reader to connect them all to one common topic, Charles Schmidt. The key similarity is the description of the antagonist in all these stories. Charles Schmidt, or “Arnold Friend”, is described in all pieces of literature the exact same. Schmidt is good looking, is muscular, wears lifts in his shoes, puts on makeup, and many other small details that become critical to the conclusion. This non-stereotypical murderer/rapist makes the story more unique and compelling to follow. Also, the fact that he takes advantage of young, naïve girls is pin pointed in all of these forms of literature. Although literature can take many different turns throughout telling a story, key points are always necessary. In finding the similarities between pieces of literature it helps us draw them all to one single event, and in turn, that event is able to preserve its original purpose.

Differences are what make the world what it is today. If everything was alike, nothing would be interesting. Regarding literature, differences are critical. No one wants to hear a story told the exact same way over and over. The glory of literature is that there are different forms of it to portray a story, but also leeway within these forms to completely change characters, plot, setting, and whatever else in a story, and still have it based upon one event. The Schmidt trial inspired many writers and producers to create literature based on the event. Although some forms ended with death, some ended with rape, some left us wondering, and some even left us with Orlando Bloom, each story was based upon the same event. If one of these single pieces of literature was read it might not be obvious as to what inspired the author to create it, but after experiencing the alter versions of the story, it is proven that the pieces of literature worked together to create the same idea. The differences just make the story appeal to different audiences, display a different purpose, or were inspired by the author’s personal view of the situation. Every person is encouraged to be an individual, and literature should be aloud to be the same way.

After analyzing the same story told in several different forms, it becomes evident that literature often collaborates to form a common conclusion. Charles Schmidt was a man who murdered 3 girls, but the story of him also inspired others to put their own personal twist on the event. Though some do not even have the same endings, obvious similarities in all pieces of work make it easy to see that all were based upon the same event. Just like in “telephone”, although the “made product” may end up being different, it can still be based upon the same original event.