AnIntegratedNetworkofNarrationsMakesagoodStory

趙婕

【Abstract】The Very Picture of You is reckoned as one of Isabel Woolfs best works.The novel impresses readers with its art in narrativity.This thesis aims to make a tentative study on how the author makes it a successful example of narration in terms of rendering the point of narrative，applying narrative techniques and creating narrative structure.

【Key Words】narrativity； the point of narrative； narrative techniques； narrative construction

The Very Picture of You，a novel that went to print in 2011 is composed by Isabel Wolff.Thanks to the authors extraordinary gifts in the construction of narration，the novel offers its readers with suspense and surprises by means of its elaborate ways of narrating stories，which makes it a bestseller.

1.Narrations in The Very Picture of You

The Very Picture of You，as the title implies，has great things to do with pictures.And，despite its moderate size，it consists of a variety of events.Briefly，they can be concluded as： four pairs of triangular relationships （John，F(xiàn)rances and Sue； Chlo?，Nate and Ella； Mike，Sarah and Grace； Edith，Guy and Peter） and a bunch of untold personal experiences narrated in the middle of portrait sittings.

The novel employs first-person narrative.Ellas parents separate at her age of five，and she hasnt seen her father since then.She grows up while painting portraits in her fathers memory and makes a name as a gifted and sensitive portrait artist.As a usual practice，Ella requires her model to have at least six sittings （two hours for each） with her so that she manages to capture the essence of the models emotions and spirits，which justifies her only painting from life，not from photos.During the sittings，she not only reads through her models mind，but finds her emotional attachment and ravels the mystery-like story between her mother Sue and her real father John.

2.The Point of Narrative

Narrations without the point of narrative contain a comparatively low level of narrativity.It is indeed the case.Supposing that readers see no point of narrative in a story，the story can hardly be taken as a good one.Gerald Prince （1982） believes that the point of narrative lies in the following fact： opposite events are integrated into an entirety，and then totalized or detotalized into another event； in the meantime，the writer give adequate description and explanation to the changes.The narrativity of a story hinges on how the context caters for readers desire through the chronological integration and a cluster of conflicts which consists of separated，concrete and definite events.In the case of The Very Picture of You，the statement holds water.The four triangular relationships and the stories narrated during the portrait sittings are separated，concrete and of different nature，but subtly connected with each other.The description of these events actually creates some suspense and hints about the heroines story，which excites readers “desire” of probing into the story.And at the climax，the author draws the story to an end with a rather surprising solution.In a word，the author has made a successful attempt in rendering the point of narrative.

3.Narrative Techniques

As it is mentioned in the above，the novel proves to be a complex of plots，therefore，in what order they are integrated becomes a worthy problem.Those events，as far as I could see，are narrated with the employment of some narrative techniques.For instance，sequential narration is used to describe how I prejudiced against Nate in the first place； flashback assists to unfold the important incident of the reportage in The Times which finally leads to Ellas real fathers E-mails； narration interposed serves to unveil a tragic story about how an innocent and affectionate father is forced to leave his daughters，how he，as a painter，runs into them and manages to paint them，and how he suffers from another sudden separation which turns out to be the forever departure during the Second World War.Not wanting to spoil the construction of the narration of the whole novel by too long a story，the author deals it with tact，puts a pause in the middle，and has the beginning and ending of the sad story interspersed in the novel.Besides，it is worth mentioning that the author tends to be a skilled user of foreshadowing，that is to say，she deliberately drops some hints about an event that occurs later in the novel.A typical case is the writers using the inauspicious wedding dress “Giselle” as a hint that Chlo?s wedding is going to be cancelled，just like what the tutu “Giselle” brings to her mother.The various narrative techniques，to a large extent，guarantee the establishment of the novels narrative structure.

4.Narrative Structure

According to Gerald Prince （1982），without （consecutive） themes or the connection between the beginning and the ending，a narration，as a matter of fact，lacks in narrativity.If we put this conclusion into the examination of The Very Picture of you，it is crystal clear that the writer is immaculate in terms of narrative construction.She can associate events chronologically，as she describes the five painting-and-sitting experiences with her models； on the other hand，she skillfully establishes cause-and-effect connections between incidents，a case which helps to illustrate this point is： Sue has a strong resentfulness against her daughters ex-boyfriend because of the similarities between their life experiences.Generally speaking，narrativity is achieved when events are associated chronologically or as causes and consequences.In this case，the process of narration is a line-structure.However，what makes Isabel Woolf out of the ordinary lies in that she can realize her narration in the form of a hierarchical structure.During the painting-and-sitting with Iris，the sad story of Iris father provokes a deep resonance in Ellas heart，and later it is hardened into the truth that Ella and Iris have a somewhat similar fate.It is noticeable that the accumulation of information contained in similar incidents serves to greatly strengthen the narrativity of the novel.

5.Conclusion

As it is discussed in the above，Isabel Woolf has a selection of narrative techniques，and she makes them into proper use as it is reflected in the novel.She lays out different events with such elaborate design that readers know exactly where the point of narrative lies.On the other hand，she connects those different events not only chronologically，but logically as well.As a result，the novel has several layers and achieved its hierarchical structure.Thus，Isabel is reckoned as a talented experimentalist in narration.

References：

[1]Gerald Prince.Narratology：the Form and Functioning of Narrative[M].Berlin： Mouton，1982.

[2]Isabel Woolf.The Very Picture of You[M].New York： Bantam， 2011.

[3]Lamber M Surhone， Mariam T Tennsoe，Susan F Henssonow.Narrativity[M].Beau Bassin： Betascript Publing，2011.

[4]申丹，王亞麗.西方敘事學(xué)：經(jīng)典與后經(jīng)典[M].北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，2010.

[5]申丹.敘事、文體與潛文本——重讀英美經(jīng)典短篇小說[M].北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，2009.

[6]譚軍強(qiáng).敘事學(xué)導(dǎo)論：從經(jīng)典敘事學(xué)到后經(jīng)典敘事學(xué)[M].北京：高等教育出版社，2014.