Change of Mind: Structure Vs. Narrative

   While structure is obviously neccesary to a bulding or a company, it is less obvious in a story. There do not appear to be levels or a method to a good peice of fiction, it just flows. This is why I used to believe that the structure of a story was created by the story's narrative, its flow.

   I assumed that a story was a string of observations which built apon each other sequentially, in order to get some sort of message across. At fist glance, this does seem to be the case. However, great writing does more than this.

   For example, in Heart of Darkness the narrative slips in and out of structural layers. There is the fabled exploits of Mr. Kurtz; they are retold to Marlowe by various characters, each story with a different perspective. The "harlequin" man is worshipping, while the station master is resentful.

   These problems with the consistency of this level of the story highlight how confused and lost Marlowe really is. He wanders around in confusion and, for the most part, apathy. He doesn't care about any causes for civilization or science, and yet he still cant see anything more than the hypocracy of the whole situation.

   Marlowe's story is another layer. However, these two sections of the book do not go in a specific order. Instead they intermingle to emphasize each other at the right moments. The garbled stories of Mr. Kurtz show Marlowe's state of mind, while at the same time Marlowe's mind shows us what is behind all of the fiction he is being told.

   One more layer which adds to this effect is the voice of the actual narrative, who provides the perspective on who Marlowe is now, and what his motives really are.The frame nararrator emphasizes how the Congo changes Marlowe.

   Heart of Darkness, however, is not actually a novel depicting this change. While the plot can be mapped out to follow a traditional narrative structure, it is instead about jumping from various levels of the story, to get the meaning behind each.

   I have figured out now that stories written for narrative often fall flat, either through irrelevance or a writers block. But with a developed structure, writers can get at deeper truths and draw on more sources of inspiration.