A Structuralist Approach to “Tricks”

吳其佳

【Abstract】This study focuses on one of Alice Munros best-known stories：“Tricks”， and attempts to explore it by adopting a structuralist approach， applying Tzvetan Todorovs schema of proposition and Northrop Fryes theory of mythoi in order to find out the narrative grammar in this story and analyze its contribution to the theme. The result is that the story presents a “seek-find-lose” structure and a juxtaposition of the structure of tragedy and the structure of irony. Through these structures， the story was gradually unfolded and it presents a main idea：many people in modern society live a life of “escape”.

【Key words】Tricks； structuralist approach； seek-find-lose； tragedy； irony； escape

Ⅰ. Introduction

Being considered as one of the greatest contemporary writers of fiction， Alice Munro is no doubt a marvelous story-teller. One important feature of her novels is that nothing runs smoothly， for what is displayed in her fiction is usually “a deceptively simple surface”（Skagert， 2008）. Also， her stories are so well-organized that the structure itself never failed catching readers eyes， such is the case with “Tricks”， which is one of the 8 stories in her famous book Runaway. By adopting a non-linear narration， the author successfully keeps us in suspense：she constantly casts riddles and then deliberately leads us to the answers. Aside from this “riddle-answer” structure， the story presents a “seek-find-lose” structure and a juxtaposition of the structure of tragedy and irony. Through them， characters experiences are described， and a main idea is covered：escaping from life seem to be inevitable for many people in modern society.

Ⅱ. The Seek-find-lose grammar and expect-embrace-escape grammar

According to Tzvetan Todorovs schema of proposition， when we read a story， we try to discover how the text is structured by the pattern of relations among the recurring actions and attributes associated with particular characters （Tyson， 1950）. In “Tricks”， the pattern of seek-find-lose can be found. The main plot of this storys seek-find-lose formula is the experiences of its protagonist， Robin. As she seeks， finds and loses her love， she actually seeks， finds and loses the chance of living a new life. Robin takes love as the key to the door of a new life， but both are lost to her. Besides， the narrative of Robin provides the formula on which the narrative of Daniel is unfolded. Daniel faces the similar life condition with Robin：Robin has to takes her disabled sister Joanne；Daniel has to help his deaf-mute brother Alexander. Both of them are confined to their family environment. If going to Stratford to see Shakespeares play is a way of seeking comfort and relaxation for Robin， walking dog along the river might do Daniel the same good. Given the health condition of Alexander， “IQ never determined…no training in sign language…outrageous”， its surely a hard task for Daniel to deal with him. Obviously， lasting patience and proper method are necessary and much time should be invested. Therefore， Daniel also expects a new life， a life with vigor and interest， and a romantic relationship might satisfy this modest demand. Thus Robin is like a gift from God and he wants to grasp this grace. The appointment is entrusted with his expectation. However， he hasnt seen Robin on that very day. His dream shattered and his quest failed.

Walking with the seek-find-lose grammar is a 3 “e” grammar：expect-embrace-escape， which reflects the development of the characters life attitude. Living with an unhealthy sister， Robin can only seek a temporary escape from life by going away from home to see plays. The play is her spiritual asylum and gives her comfort by offering her a chance to live outside Joannes reach and enjoy her own time. In the real word， her lack of love makes her expects it. And meeting Daniel seems to be a miracle， a turning point in her life. For Robin， Daniel symbolizes love， symbolizes the change of her previous boring life. He injects her life with joy and hope， which encourages her to embrace life. During the waiting year， she gets a polar to live and she has got a purpose in life；her life becomes meaningful and fulfilling. She “was aware of a shine on her… smile for no reason and treat the patients with uncommon tenderness”（Munro， 2004）：she is embracing life. Unfortunately， this positive attitude only lasts for a years worth. As she loses her love and fails her quest， her life-embracing attitude is gone and she begins to escape from life and shuts the real world out. Similar grammar structures the narratives of Daniel. His venture is his unfulfilled search for love；his life attitude mirrors the change of Robins.

Clearly， the seek-find-lose structure is a denial of traditional quest pattern：seek-and-find. According to Frye， the traditional quest has four structural components：conflict， catastrophe， disorder and confusion， and triumph. And Todorovs elementary plot formula also involves an attribute transformed by an action. “Even if the hero dies achieving the goal of his quest， or attempting to achieve it， the world is transformed in some way by his effort” （Tyson， 1950）. However， in Alice Munros novels， there is usually no “triumph” and the characters are not transformed by their actions. In “Tricks”， Robin is still short of love and she still lives an isolated life. And so does Daniel. They dream to embrace life but they are just forced to escape from life. Though pessimistic， it is actually a vision of human experience associated with modernist worldview， and it suggests that “escape” is really a common phenomenon in modern society.

Ⅲ. Juxtaposition of the structure of irony and the structure of tragedy

In fact， the storys seek-find-lose grammar is compatible with the way in which Alice Munros novel suggests us to use Northrop Fryes theory of mythoi. According to Fryes framework， “Tricks” embeds the structure of tragedy （the mythos of autumn） and the structure of irony （the mythos of winter）. Of course， we cant deny that there is the structure of romance （the mythos of summer）， however， the mood of tragedy and irony is too strong that the romance is almost erased completely.

The mythos of winter is associated with the genre of irony， and it involves that “protagonists are defeated by the puzzling complexities of life” （Tyson， 1950）. In “Tricks”， the structure of irony is triggered by conflicts. On the one hand， the protagonists struggle is in conflict with her fate. With the expectation of winning her love and modifying her life， Robin tries her hardest to make preparations for that appointment. However， she is thrown into extreme astonishment by what has happened to her on the appointment day and the ideal world she has fabricated for future suddenly collapses；she is tricked by fate. Her effort is in conflict with her fate. On the other hand， the play forms a sharp contrast with the reality. In “Tricks”， Shakespeares plays go though the whole story and the play on the anniversary day is As You Like It， a comedy， a good omen！However， the stories in the play and in reality have totally differently endings. And Robins life is destroyed by a mistake！This is ironic. A good omen leads to a cruel ending！God knows Daniel has a twin brother！However， though unbelievable， this is the reality.

Tragedy is called by Frye the mythos of autumn and in tragedy， the protagonist “falls from his romantic role into the real world” （Tyson， 1950）. In this story， Robin and Daniel seem to have the potential to attain their love：the chance of grasping their happiness seems to be near at hand， however， the opportunity just slips through their fingers. Actually， the author drops some hints to the tragic ending. For example， the cleaner fails to make the green dress ready on time and the heavy rain on that day damages her hairstyle. Robin breaks the promises because of a series of accidents. Actually， Robins experiences are all brought about by accidents：the accident of losing purse begins her relationship with Daniel；the accident of taking Alexander for Daniel ends the relationship. Accidents bring and also thwart her hope. The story between them seems like a dream， but it does happen and find-lose hurts deeper than never-find. A mistake， a little accident turns to be fatal for the two lovers：it makes them shift from the ideal world to the real world， the world of loss and defeat， makes them back to the life of isolation and escape.

In “Tricks”， the mythos of winter and autumn are juxtaposed throughout the text. The mythos of autumn is haunted by winter， with the latter strengthens the former：the sharp contrasts between the protagonists efforts and the reality， between the play and the real world tint the tragic story with a deep color of irony， which makes the story even sadder.

Ⅳ. Conclusion

A structuralist approach provides a new angle to see through the structures in “Tricks” and offers a better understanding about it. The fact that the seek-find-lose and expect-embrace-escape grammar are common in contemporary literary works suggests that this kind of quest pattern and life attitude are common in modern society， similarly， the mythos of autumn and winter surrounding the pattern manifest that the unfulfilled quest surely does people great harm， gives them severe trauma and casts shadow in their lives.

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