Line #23 Literature/TheScarletSails


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21765093_1660997160619826_8538943688013773135_n.jpg]]
2	''The Scarlet Sails'' (Russian: Алые паруса) is a 1923 novella by Alexander Grin, set in his Literature/{{Grinlandia}} universe in the vaguely European seaside village of Kaperna.
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4	Longren, a sailor, finds out his wife has died while he was at sea: she has given birth to a baby daughter and was struggling to support her, the local innkeeper Menners refused to lend her money, so she went to a pawnbroker in the town during a storm and expired from pneumonia. Longren quits his job to raise Assol and becomes a toymaker. A while later, he sees Menners being carried off to a stormy sea in a boat and calmly stands on the shore; Menners is rescued but lives just long enough to tell the villagers Longren killed him, after which Longren and his daughter become social outcasts.
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6	One day Assol meets a traveling storyteller who tells her that one day, a prince will come to her in a ship with scarlet sails. The dream takes root in Assol's heart, and she believes it firmly afterwards, leading to even more of the villagers' taunts and disdain.
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8	Meanwhile, a rebellious aristocrat Arthur Grey runs off to sea from his oppressive family, and gradually rises from cabin boy to captain. His voyages bring him to Kaperna, where he falls in love with Assol from afar and resolves to make her dream come true.
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10	''The Scarlet Sails'' is a classic in the Eastern Bloc and especially Russia as a symbol of everlasting hope, dream, and love, with two films in [[Film/TheScarletSails 1961]] and [[Film/{{Assol}} 1982]] and a [[Theatre/TheScarletSails highly popular musical]], not counting the endless other stage adaptations based on it, as well as a famous St.-Petersburg summer festival inspired by the book.
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12	!!''The Scarlet Sails'' provides examples of:
13	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Nobody in Kaperna wants to deal with Longren or Assol. Later a single exception is revealed – a drunken charcoal burner, an outcast himself, who often gives Assol a lift.
14	* AerithAndBob: Mary, Lionel Grey, Arthur Grey on one hand, and Assol, Longren, Letika, Egl, Hin on the other.
15	* BarefootLoon: Assol is a dreamy girl [[PrefersGoingBarefoot with a penchant for going barefoot]].
16	* BeautifulDreamer: Grey first sees Assol and is struck by her beauty when she is asleep.
17	* BirdsOfAFeather: Grey and Assol; both have had a big dream since childhood, are believed crazy or at least weird by those around them, both are kind-hearted, with a love for fairytales and a sense of humor. No wonder Grey falls for Assol when he learns her story.
18	* CloudCuckoolander: Assol, who believes in fairy tales and a prince who will come for her on a ship with scarlet sails.
19	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Arthur Grey does become a successful and respected captain, and Assol does get her HappilyEverAfter with scarlet sails.
20	* DaddysGirl: Longren and Assol are each other's only family and confidants.
21	* DiscretionShot: Grey and Assol go to his cabin, and a couple of paragraphs later – "[[LemonyNarrator now we will leave them, knowing that they need to be alone]]". Cut to the next scene.
22	* FormerTeenRebel: Lionel Grey, the prim aristocrat, used to be quite mischievous when he was a boy. He recognizes the traits of his young self in his son – only Arthur remains rebellious after growing up as well.
23	* HateSink: Menners Sr., being a greedy, ruthless lecher and ConsummateLiar, is an absolutely despicable human being in ''every'' version. Unlike his son, who has at least [[YouKilledMyFather a justification]] for hating Longren even in the book and the 1961 film and is made even more sympathetic in other adaptations, Menners Sr. is just plain horrible with no excuses for his behavior.
24	* InTheBlood: According to the charcoal burner, the whole Menners family consists of ConsummateLiar bullies. From what we can see of them, it looks like he's right.
25	* MaliciousMisnaming: The villagers, when teasing Assol, always say "red sails" instead of "scarlet sails".
26	* MeaningfulName: Grey's ship is called ''The Secret''.
27	* MurderByInaction:
28	** When Menners Sr. refuses to help Mary ([[ScarpiaUltimatum for free]]), she is forced to go the town in the middle of the thunderstorm, gets pneumonia and dies.
29	** Afterwards, Menners gets his LaserGuidedKarma when he freezes to death at sea and Longren does nothing to rescue him.
30	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: The shopkeeper in Liss who sells the scarlet silk to Grey, when he learns how much Grey wants to buy.
31	-->'''Shopkeeper''': Two? Thousand? Meters?
32	* PurpleProse: Letika enjoys speaking like this. For example, when he praises Assol's beauty, he calls her "a wondrous painting".
33	* RebelPrince: Grey is a noble but not a prince, but otherwise he qualifies. He is considered strange ever since childhood, and he runs off to sea rather than lead an aristocratic life.
34	* RhymesOnADime: Letika often speaks in rhymes, to the delight of the rest of the crew.
35	-->'''Letika''' (in the 1961 film's English subtitles): With a string and a pole of wood I have made myself a whip / And now I tie a hook on it and, whistling, make it flip.
36	* SelfFulfillingProphecy: Grey learns from the locals that Assol is waiting for her prince on a ship with scarlet sails, buys some scarlet cloth for his sails, and ''becomes'' that prince.
37	* SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers: The people of Kaperna realizes how they have been mistaken when a ship with scarlet sails ''does'' appear.
38	* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: The philosophy of Kaperna. It backfires terribly once they see that the supposedly crazy Assol has been telling the truth.
39	* SmallRoleBigImpact: Egl, the storyteller and gatherer of folk tales, appears only once and briefly, but his scarlet sails prophecy leads to ''huge'' consequences.
40	* SugarAndIcePersonality: Grey's mother is a haughty ProperLady, except towards her son.
41	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The kindly neighbor who nursed Assol from Mary's death till Longren's return isn't mentioned after the first chapter. It's up for interpretation whether she has died at some point or [[FaceHeelTurn joined the rest of Kaperna in boycotting Longren]].
42	* WithThisRing: Grey puts his ring on Assol's finger while she's asleep, and she feels that her dream is going to come true very soon.

Context Literature / TheScarletSails