Narrative Theory

We applied the theories and ideas of four narrative theorists to the film The Shining. These narrative theorists are Vladimir Propp, Tzvetan Todorov, Claude Levi-Strauss and Bordwell and Thompson.

Propp was a Russian critic who explored the underlying structures of folk tales and proposed a set of universal character and narrative functions which he thought were the basis for all stories. All together he identified eight character roles and thirty one narrative functions, all of which he believed would fit any narratives of films in some way or form. The eight character types that he identified are:
1. The villain(s)
2.The hero
3. The donor - who provides an object with some magic property.
4. The helper who aids the hero.
5. The princess (the sought for person) - reward for the hero and object of the villain's schemes.
6. Her father - who rewards the hero.
7. The dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way.
8. The false hero
In The Shining, the majority of these character roles do fit in with the film with only a couple that don't, however there is a confusion within the film as to which characters would fit which character roles. For example, at first glance the clear villain of the film would be Jack as he is gradually turning mad and wants to kill his family, but it could also be said that the hotel itself is the villain who is possessing Jack to do the things he is doing by playing tricks with his mind.
However I believe his ideas on the narrative functions are an uneasy fit with The Shining as the film does not follow the same structure as his narrative functions suggests as well as goes against the order in which he has created for each function.

Todorov's theory suggests that stories begin with an equilibrium where any potentially opposing forces are in balance. This is then disrupted by a chain of events causing a disequilibrium, which is the resolved into a new equilibrium by the end of the tale. In The Shining there is both an equilibrium and a disequilibrium as the film begins by a family moving into a hotel to stay whilst it closes for the winter season which is a disrupted by a disequilibrium where Jack starts to turn mad whilst other strange things are happening around the hotel. Although this theory does fit to The Shining, I would say it is not the best fitting narrative theory there is.



Levi-Strauss is a theorist who looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. Examples of the binary opposites he looked at are:
Good/Evil
Normal/Abnormal
Past/Present
Known/Unknown
Earth/Space
Humans/Aliens
Natural/Supernatural
Again some of the binary opposites that Levi-Strauss has included in his theory do link in with The Shining. For example, the binary opposite of past and present is used throughout the film as the audience is shown visions of Danny's mind where he can see things happening in both the present and future, giving the audience a wider sense of time, whereas we are also shown glimpses of the past where who we believe is the caretaker back in the 1930s is actually the man who killed his own family in the 1970s. By relating this particular theory to The Shining the audience can vaguely see how the time layout within the film can relate to the way Jack appears to be confused about the time himself. Despite this I still believe there is a better fitting narrative theory that relates to the film.

Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as "a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space". Although they didn't create a full theory of narrative, they did however come up with interesting ideas such as a narrative typically begins with one situation, moving on to a series of changes occurring according to a pattern of cause and effect; finally ending with a new situation arising that brings the end of the narrative. They also suggested that narrative shapes material in terms of time and space, using technical techniques to manipulate our awareness of time and space; e.g. flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion, speeding up and jumping between places and times, all of which give the audience and characters within the film a sense of confusion about time within the film.

I personally believe that this is the best fitted theory to The Shining in terms of showing the specific narrative structure as throughout the film the audience are kept in confusion as to what time it is other than few messages appearing on the screen every now and then highlighting either a month or day of the week. Jack in the film is also confused about time and space as on a couple of occasions he wakes up unaware of what the time is and insists he has too much to do with little time. This can then help the audience understand why Jack is starting to go mad and why he appears lost and confused throughout the film.