only as it has bearing on plot and character. Even the methods by which these things are done must be chosen because they, of all methods, best suit the author's purpose. It is required of the short story that it be capable of being read at a single sitting, that it deal with a single episode, that it accomplish a single purpose, and that it create a single impression. With these limitations of condensation the short story comes under the heading of prose fiction. A story has to have at least three elements. In the first place something must happen. This happening is the plot. In the second place, what happens must happen sary elements to somebody or because of somebody. The people concerned with these happenings are the characters of the story. In the third place, what happens must happen somewhere at some time. The time and the place supply the setting of the story. Three neces to any story PLOT Not every narrative has a plot. A disconnected record of unrelated events may be narrative, but unless it has a plan, it has no plot. A story with a plot is really a story with a plan. A diary, for instance, or a letter telling about your experiences in a careless way in the order you happen to think of them, cannot be said to have a plot. A writer, then, must have method in his narrative; he must decide beforehand what to include and what to omit, what to emphasize and what to pass over lightly. His story should advance by logical, or at least by relevant, stages to a certain definite, inevitable end. In a detective story the reader wants to feel that each new clue helps toward the solution of the mystery; in a love story the reader has a right to demand that each step in the plot draw nearer the conclusion; in a story of adventure the reader expects each adventure to lead somewhere. Not every story follows a rigid plan, but no Per good story is told in a careless, haphazard manner. fection in plot construction is rarely attained; sometimes mechanical perfection of structure is secured at the expense of other more essential qualities. Silas Marner and The Scarlet Letter, however, have practically perfect plot construction without the sacrifice of character. Both these books show deep insight into human nature, both were written to illustrate significant human problems; yet both are as carefully developed in plot as the most logical of detective stories. The first requirement, then, that we should make of the plot in a work of fiction is that it follow some sort of plan of progress, including what is necessary, omitting what is irrelevant, emphasizing A plan the strongly the important steps in its progress, first essential touching only lightly upon what is relatively unimportant, and leading up to a logical and satisfactory conclusion. A book that did all this would have a perfectly constructed plot. of plot The plot of a novel may combine two or more stories in one. A minor plot carried on in connection with the main plot is called a subplot. In Ivanhoe, for in- Subplots stance, we have a story about Ivanhoe and the Lady Rowena, one about Rebecca and the Templar, and one about Prince John and King Richard. These are Ivanhoe as a all carried along in such a way that one does threefold story not detract from the interest of the other but is closely connected with it. The story of Ivanhoe and Rowena is connected with that of Rebecca and Bois Guilbert by having Rebecca, in love with Ivanhoe, nurse him back to life; by having DeBracy, a follower of the Templar's, abduct Rowena so that they are all in the castle of Torquilstone at once. And as Ivanhoe's and the Templar's fortunes are inextricably bound up with those of Prince John and King Richard, all three stories are woven into one as different colored threads are woven into one harmonious pattern. To the reader, all these different plot-relationships are quite clear. Silas Marner is another example of a successful fusion of main and subplots; in fact, the story of Silas Marner is so closely related to that of Godfrey Cass that neither could do without the other. Silas Marner as a twofold story If the different parts of a story are not closely related in this way, the story is said to lack unity. An author may The principle weave as many stories as he chooses, but the of artistic unity final pattern must give the effect of being one harmonious whole; we must feel that it is really one story. Ivanhoe and Silas Marner are both entirely unified. Some novels, however, have serious digressions from the main thread of the narrative. The Three Musketeers, for instance, is really a series of different stories about the same characters. The episodes about the jewels and the episodes about the wickedness and tragic end of Milady de Winter are only slightly connected; each one could easily be made into a story by itself. We should, then, notice whether the plot of a story has unity or not, that is, whether or not there is any serious intrusion of irrelevant matter. We might also notice whether the plot itself grows out of human nature or out of chance and coincidence. This con The influence of chance and the influence of human nature on plot sideration applies more to realistic than to romantic fiction, however, for in a romance we cheerfully accept the unusual and the accidental as part of the excitement. But in a story purporting to show life as it is, there should be no undue use of mere coincidence. Chance plays a part in our lives, it is true, and is therefore admissible as part of a story of real life, but our success or failure in life depends chiefly on ourselves, a fact which the novelist must recognize. Silas Marner is a good case in point. Much of this story Chance and in Silas Marner depends on the merest accident-the drawing of lots, the staking of Wildfire, the death of Molly so near to Silas's cottage. Indeed, Silas's cataleptic human nature fits are a little too opportune to be entirely plausible. But, on the other hand, George Eliot has used human nature so skilfully that everything in the story seems to happen more because people are what they are than because of chance. The motives and reactions of Godfrey, Dunstan, Nancy, and Molly are so natural and so inevitable a part of their characters that we are inclined to discount the influence of coincidence. For if Godfrey had not been the weak, vacillating man he was, the whole story would have been different; if Dunstan had not been conceited, bullying, and deceitful, Wildfire would never have been killed; if Molly had not had a very natural desire for revenge, she would not have fallen in front of Silas's cottage, and Eppie would never have come into the story. In this work the influences of chance and character are so skilfully blended that we are forced to acquit the author of the charge of improbability. But the undue use of coincidence is a thing we should watch; in a story that is supposed to represent life as it is, the important things which happen to the characters must not depend wholly on circumstances over which they have no control; human nature should play its part, too. A good deal of life is, perhaps, dependent on chance, but surely not all of it. There are certain technical details in the writing of prose fiction which need consideration. The title is important more from a commercial than from an artistic Importance of point of view, but there are certain standards the title of good taste. A title should, naturally, arouse interest in the story and give some clue to its charac- Suggestiveness ter that is, it should be interesting and sug- of title gestive. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Last Class, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Gift of the Magi, and The Man Who Would be King are interesting and suggestive titles. Brevity is a desirable quality in a title; a long title is cumbersome, a double title unnecessary. Titles like The Shot, They, The Queen of Spades, Luck, The Black Cat, Marjorie Daw, and The Birthmark are suggestive and at the same time brief. A title should also be euphonious, that is, easy to say. The Light that Failed, A Tale of Two Cities, Wuthering Heights, and The Master of Ballantrae, once pronounced, linger in the memory. Finally, a title should not be commonplace or sensational. These qualities cheapen a book in the mind of the prospective reader. in the first person THE POINT OF VIEW A story may be told in the first, second, or third person. The first person often makes it vivid and convincing, Telling a story especially if it is a story of the adventures of one person or a ghost story. But it has limitations, as one person cannot reasonably be expected to see into the minds and motives of other characters or to be at more than one place at a time or to know all the circumstances that sometimes go to make up a story. An author sometimes tries to avoid this difficulty by making two different people, or even more, tell the story, but this device is not usually successful, as it requires the reader to shift his interest and his point of view suddenly. Some stories that are told in the first person throughout with great success are David Copperfield, Jane Eyre, Lorna Doone, Henry Esmond, Kidnapped, and Huckleberry Finn. The Master of Ballantrae, to avoid the effect of egotism, is told in the first person by a minor character. Devices for maintaining the first person |