Editing Quest (section)

==Modern literature==
{{further|Quests in Middle-earth}}

Quests continued in modern literature. Analysis can interpret many (perhaps most) stories as a quest in which the main character is seeking something that they desire,<ref>Robert McKee, ''Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting'', p 196-7 {{ISBN|0-06-039168-5}}</ref> but the literal structure of a journey seeking something is, itself, still common. Quests often appear in [[fantasy]] literature,<ref>John Grant and John Clute, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', "Quest ", p 796 {{ISBN|0-312-19869-8}}</ref> as in ''[[Rasselas]]'' by [[Samuel Johnson]], or ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'', where [[Dorothy Gale|Dorothy]], [[Scarecrow (Oz)]], the [[Tin Woodman]], and the [[Cowardly Lion]] go on a quest for the way back to Kansas, brains, a heart, and courage respectively.<ref>L. Frank Baum, Michael Patrick Hearn, ''The Annotated Wizard of Oz'', p 126-7, {{ISBN|0-517-50086-8}}</ref> Quests also play a major role in [[Rick Riordan]]'s fantasy books, among them ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians]]'', ''[[The Heroes of Olympus]]'', and ''[[The Kane Chronicles]]'', and in [[dark fantasy]] novel ''[[The Talisman (King and Straub novel)|The Talisman]]'' by [[Stephen King]] and [[Peter Straub]].

A familiar modern literary quest is [[Frodo Baggins]]'s quest to destroy the [[One Ring]] in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.<ref>[[W. H. Auden]], "The Quest Hero", ''Understanding the Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism'', p45 {{ISBN|0-618-42253-6}}</ref> The One Ring, its baleful power, the difficult method which is the only way to destroy it, and the spiritual and psychological torture it wreaks on its bearer; J. R. R. Tolkien uses all these elements to tell a meaningful tale of [[friendship]] and the inner struggle with [[temptation]], against a background of [[epic poetry|epic]] and supernatural warfare.

''[[The Catcher in the Rye]]'' is often thought of as a quest plot, detailing [[Holden Caulfield|Holden]]'s search not for a tangible object, but for a sense of purpose or reason.

Some writers, however, may devise arbitrary quests for items without any importance beyond being the object of the quest. These items are known as MacGuffins, which is sometimes merely used to compare quests and is not always a derogatory term. Writers may also motivate characters to pursue these objects by meanings of a [[Self-fulfilling prophecy#Literature, media, and the arts|prophecy]] that decrees it, rather than have them discover that it could assist them, for reasons that are given.