TO PLOT OR NOT TO PLOT?
The traditional idea of a plot is that it hinges on rising and falling action.
According to the Freytag Pyramid (devised in 1863 by critic Gustav
Freytag), a plot is deemed to have an exposition, a complication, a climax,
a reversal and a catastrophe. Explication and complication make up one
side of the triangle, and reversal and catastrophe the other side, with
climax at the top (Olsen 1999, p. 89). This can only be a skeleton model since,
for example, the climax and catastrophe may be simultaneous, or there
may be several climaxes. For the narratologist the definition of plot is
somewhat looser: it consists of a sequence of events, causal links, and the
arousal of expectations with various alternative outcomes. Stories usually
consist of events which open alternatives (known as kernels) and those
that ‘expand, amplify, maintain or delay’ actions (known as catalysts)
(Rimmon-Kenan 1983, p. 16).
Many important novels are heavily plot-based. The advantage of a plot
is that it drives the action forwards, shapes the material, and holds the
attention of the reader: such advantages are not to be underestimated and
are the basis for many fine novels. On the other hand, the subordination
of material to a strong plotline can have disadvantages. A plot can be a
straightjacket, an artificial construction into which everything in the nar-
rative has to be pushed. It may force the writer to make causal links
between disparate events, and produce pressure towards closure and the
elimination of alternatives. Used too tightly, it can stifle digression, open-
endedness, philosophical rumination, symbolic significance and generic
variety. It may also result in an unnecessary emphasis towards catastrophic
events, rather than significant, small-scale ones.
Postmodern writers have often questioned the significance of plot. They
have not totally jettisoned it, nor, even if desired, is it very easy to do so
entirely, since any sequence of events can start to acquire some of the
features of a plot. However, they have certainly loosed, broadened or
subverted it, and their work often creates friction between building up
narrative expectations and thwarting them. Many postmodern fictions do
not have a plot in the sense of a cataclysmic event to which all events lead,
and from which they fall away. A postmodern fiction might instead circle
round a particular idea, project the thoughts of a person throughout a
short period of time, or focus on a number of minor ups and downs. Some
postmodern novelists, such as Paul Auster, strongly retain some aspects
of plot while jettisoning others. The plotline may be one that never fully
resolves, or consists of competing plotlines, or has several alternative
resolutions. Such subversions of plot, while they loosen the storyline, often
strengthen the metaphorical and allegorical possibilities of the narrative.
136 The Writing Experiment