Narrative theory applied to our film

There are many different narrative theories that are used to describe stories. One of those theories was invented by a man called Todorov. He created this chart:  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Our film in a slight way fits to Todorov's theory but the theory can only work in our film if it is only applied to the boy:

Equilibrium - the boy went on his usual ways; committing crime and creating disorder.

Disruption - The boy gets into a knife fight, the boy is emmitted to hospital, becomes friends with man, man reads diary, boy goes home and finds house abandoned, the boy trashes man's house, man returns.

Resolution - Man offers the boy to live with him.

Restored Order - Man encourages boy to continue writing, the boy and the man live happily together during the man's final months.

New Equilibrium - The boy continues writing, gets book published and dedicates book to man.

But if you were to apply the theory to the man soley, it would not work.

Another narrative was invented by Propp and this narrative was called the 31 functions. The 31 functions were this: 

INITIAL SITUATION, ABSENTATION, INTERDICTION, VIOLATION of INTERDICTION, RECONNAISSANCE, DELIVERY, TRICKERY, COMPLICITY, VILLAINY, LACK, MEDIATION, BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION DEPARTURE, FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR, HERO'S REACTION, RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT, GUIDANCE, STRUGGLE, VICTORY, LIQUIDATION, RETURN, PURSUIT,

RESCUE, UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL, UNFOUNDED CLAIMS, DIFFICULT TASK, SOLUTION, RECOGNITION, EXPOSURE,

TRANSFIGURATION, PUNISHMENT and WEDDING.

It is very hard to fit our story in Propp's 31 functions:

1. Initial situation: Trouble boy seeks crime to escape from boredom of own life.

1. Absentation: -
2. Interdiction: The police forbids the boy to break the law.
3. Violation: The boy still breaks the law many times.
4. Reconnaissance: The boy finds ways to occupy his mind... 
5. Delivery:  The boy eventually finds a way by getting into a knife fight.
6. Trickery: 
7. Complicity: The man finds the boys diary and reads it whilst the boy is asleep.
8. Villainy: The boy becomes infuriated 
9. Mediation: The boy doesn't talk to the man for 3 days.
10. Counteraction 
11. Departure: The boy leaves the hospital.
12. 1st function of donor: The boy is tested when he discovers his family has abandoned their house.
13. Hero's reaction:   The boy trashes the man's house.
14. Receipt of Magical Agent: The boy needs love after discovering his house abandoned.
15. Spatial transference
16. Struggle:  The man returns home to find the boy lying amongst his trash.
17. Branding
18. Victory: The man offers that the boy lives with him.
19. Liquidation: The boy now has somewhere to live.
20. Return
21. Pursuit
22. The Hero is rescued.
23. Unrecognized arrival
24. Unfounded claims
25. Difficult Task
26. Solution
27. Recognition
28. Exposure
29. Transfiguration
30. Punishment
31. Wedding

As you can see the theory hardly fits our film and this is because our film is a very independent film. 

Here is the 7 plots to the most common of fairy tales:

The Quest: The hero is set out on a goal to retrieve something and he wont stop until that thing is retrieved. There are many obstacles he has to undertake before he succeeds. Examples of this is: 

The Lord of the Rings, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark

Voyage and Return: Similar to that of 'the quest' the protagonist is transported to another world and then transported back again. During his journey he discovers much about himself and the world around him. Examples of this is:

Voyage and Return stories are Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, Back to the Future, the Wizard of Oz.

Rebirth: The protagonist has a spell inflicted on her/him normally as a result of his/her own doing. The liberation can be achieved from another force. Love is commonly used as a spell-breaker to set the protagonist free from his spell. Examples of this is: 

Rebirth story type are A Christmas Carol, Beauty and the Beast.

Comedy: Any story that is typically funny. Examples of this is: 

All’s Well That Ends Well, When Harry Met Sally, Some Like It Hot.

Tragedy:  The protagonist goes through a series of actions that results in his/her own downfall. The downfall then avokes a series of emotions in the audience. Examples of this is: 

 Hamlet. Carlito’s Way, Macbeth, Oedipus the King.

Overcoming the Monster: The protagonist must overcome a evil being that has exerted an evil force over a person/place/people. Examples of this is: T

he Silence of the Lambs, Dracula, Jaws, Hansel and Gretel.

Rags to Ritches: The protagonist is 'plucked' from nothing and then made rich. The protagonist is normally returned to his/hers original position and must overcome some foe to regain the wealth.

Examples of this is: Aladdin, Cinderella, Great Expectations.

None of these stories perfectly fit our story, but most of them have similiar traits to ours. The Quest has a similar reform to our own plot because the boy is in search of his own self. The voyage and return: The boy discovers himself along the way. Tragedy: the boy exults to crime to succumb his boredom which results in him ending up in hospital. The one that mostly fits our plot is RAGS TO RITCHES because the boy is plucked from the streets and made into a successful writer.

Lily