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John Newton's Amazing Grace: A True Life Story

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The true-life story of John Newton, a former slave-ship Captain, who became a clergyman, fought to abolish slavery, and composed the song Amazing Grace.

STORY COMMENTS
A WRETCH LIKE ME is a character driven story based on the true-life journey of John Newton, who helped abolish slavery and composed the lyrics to the haunting and soulful song AMAZING GRACE.
Amazing Grace is a song of redemption, based on his personal character struggle and on his transformation.
The story centers on John’s emotional, psychological, and personal conversion, as he transitions from commanding a slave ship to championing the abolishment of slavery.
It’s an important story to tell. The script poses the moral question: can man really change? The goal for the …show more content…

The story outlines his journey, but at the end, it’s his father who secures his journey home. Not John. There’s not a lot of tension in the idea that his father arranged his transportation home. Compare that to other story’s of survival or stories in which the hero has to find their way back. Normally, the hero is proactive in trying to solve their dilemma. They come up with a plan of action, it fails, and they come up with another one. That’s the challenge of stories based on true events. Think of CASTAWAY or CAPTAIN PHILLIPS or other escape type films. The hero is normally proactive and encounters obstacles that they must overcome. This sustains the tension. Granted, John tries to go to a slave ship, hoping he’ll get home sooner and this fails, but the tension isn’t palpable.
There’s a scene in which he battles PI. It’s a good scene when he releases all the slaves, but the reason this doesn’t have a stronger emotional impact is because PI is only introduced in the story sporadically. One first meets PI on page 50. If the entire story had been John vs. PI and then this climax occurred, it would make for a very powerful …show more content…

Try to make John more relatable. Find a way to convince the audience to like him. With that said, certainly, John is complex. He has a strong inner conflict, yet he feels like an immature hero. As mentioned, the idea that he doesn’t think slaves are human is a smart point in which to begin his arc. By the end he realizes how wrong he was.
John definitely has potential, but some of his actions and his dialogue make him a bit too stiff as a character. One struggles to find a reason to like him.
In contrast, Polly is very likable. She’s bright and cheerful. She has a very good heart and she sees something really good in John. She also has strong moral values that conflict with John. She challenges him as a person and she makes him a better man. Her voice reflects her personality and her values.
David is strong as the antagonist. He clearly sees John as a rival. His voice is consistent with his personality. However, David isn’t a consistent foe due to the current structure. So there’s no building towards a climax.
Samson is also likable, yet one feels like there’s more room for development. While the audience meets him in the opening, his real role doesn’t begin until page 51 and even then it’s pretty mild.
John’s father’s point of view about John is very clear, but one doesn’t feel as if there is a true resolution in the father-son

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