Narrative Structure and "The Shining"

There are four main theorists connected with narrative structure, these are Vladimir Propp , a Russian Scholar, Tzvetan Todorov, a French/Bulgarian Philosopher, Claude Levi-Strauss a French anthropologist and ethnologist and finally David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson who are both film theorists.

Propp analyzed the basic functions of hundreds of folk tales and came up with 31 main functions and 8 main characters that can be applied to most films. In the film "The Shining" it is harder to relate all characters and plot structures to the theory but they can be "stretched" to make sense. In my reading of the film i believe Danny is the hero and Jack the Villain, Jack and Danny go head to head at the end and it is Danny's cunning that allows his escape and ultimately Jacks death. Halloran plays the part of the donor as he shows Danny how to use "the shining" which ultimately saves him. The rest of the 8 main characters are hard to place in this particular text, Wendy could be the helper as she protects Danny multiple times, she could also be the Hero and/or the princess as Danny runs to her when he escapes the maze. Halloran could also be the helper as he distracts Jack from killing Wendy. Along with the characters, some of the 31 functions fit and some don't. Some are just plain missed out and others are in the "wrong" order. Absentation, interdiction, violation of interdiction, trickery and others an be clearly seen in the text. Overall the shining follows a generalized pattern of Propp's theory's, but maybe the reason why "The Shining" was and is so popular is because of the times it doesn't follow these structures.



Todorov Came up with the idea of 5 main Parts of narrative. First the equilibrium, where all forces are equal, then the disequilibrium by an event, a recognition that a disequilibrium has occurred, an attempt to repair the damage and finally the new equilibrium. In "The Shining" we assume the equilibrium is the family moving house which suggests a very unstable and on the move family. But the rest is up to the audience to decide, i believe the disequilibrium is Jack going crazy and the recognition is when Wendy finds the book that Jack's been writing, the attempt to put things right is to get out of the hotel and away from Jack and finally the new equilibrium is Jacks death and the family of three becomes a family of two.


Levi-Strauss narrative ideas consisted of opposites such as good and evil. these ideas can be applied by anyone to any text to show themes. In "The Shining" we get ideas such Sanity and Insanity, Natural and Supernatural, Isolation and Communal. These ideas allow you to apply your own idea's.



Bordwell - Thompson have the idea of all narrative structure in time and space. it's an idea that humans have to make links between shots and we assume the time difference by how a scene is shot. For example if there is a fade out then fade in we assume that it fades in on a new day. To show time in "The Shining" we see sudden cuts through multiple days of the week. The audience have to be told what the day is otherwise the audience become confused. The sudden random day changes emphasis the loss of time and the monotony of the hotel. It feels like you cant remember certain days with would scare an audience and make you think you where going mad.

Out of the narrative structure idea's i personally believe Todorov and Propp to be the most useful out of the lot. it helps to understand the movie in more depth and follow the story.