The first leads from radical vulnerability to a state…

The first leads from radical vulnerability to a state of danger or even actual wounding, until rescue emerges at the point of maximum danger or misery. The second narrative arc exposes the hero to a dangerous test that he can pass or fail. The danger comes and is overwhelming, but it can be defeated by deception, cunning, and the young hero's daring. These two narratives join at the end point, namely, the rescue from and triumph over danger.

— from Takeoff Into Chaos · Narrative Brain: the Stories Our Neurons Tell by Fritz Breithaupt

In the book

In fairy tales the hero is almost always the weak one — the youngest child, the small animal, the overlooked servant — precisely because vulnerability is the point. The tale carries that fragile figure from danger or even wounding to a rescue that arrives at the moment of maximum peril, and what wins in the end is never sheer toughness but the one who stays open and attentive when everything is shaking. The story closes with a careful balancing, everyone meeting more or less what they deserve. — Takeoff Into Chaos

Also belongs to

Related