Narrative

First of all I will start with the amazing Greek philosopher named Aristotle who created the primitive idea that narratives had the necessity which are three stages, including:

- A beginning.

- A middle.

- And an end.

Moving on to the next theories of narrative which were introduced by Todorov, these were created in 5 stages:

@ Equilibrium- a state of normality.

@ Disruption of equilibrium- a character or an action causes an effect which disturbs the state of normality.

@ The main protagonist recognizes that the equilibrium has been disrupted.

@ Restoration of equilibrium- the protagonist attempts to restore the equilibrium.

@ New equilibrium- Equilibrium is restored, but transformations either good, bad or neutral have occurred from the original equilibrium.

Next we have the author named Propp who observed that most narratives are shaped and directed by certain characters, and a range of different actions; he set this into 8 exclusive types of characters:

- The hero who typically is seeking something.

- The villain who opposes this rising hero.

- The dispatcher who sends the brave hero on his journey.

- The false hero who as it suggests falsely accumulates the role of hero.

- The helper who gives the hero necessary help.

- The princess who usually needs to be saved by the hero, simulating as the reward for his travels but also she needs to be protected by the outgoing villain.

- The last one is sometimes used, the role of the princesses father who is consumed with gratification.

Last we have Levi-Strauss who studied huge quantities of myths and legends, he then deciphered that binary opposites are literally everywhere. He then further explained that narratives are organised around the conflict of these binary opposites, the main ones include:

- Good and Evil.

- Old and Young.

- Black and White.

- Masculine and Feminine.

- Wealthy and Poor.

- Heterosexual and Homosexual.

This is one of my favorite moments in the traditional Disney film UP, straight away we see the complete opposites of this couple who are getting married; this is shown through the opposite sides of the isle, on one side we have the grooms family who are presented as boring and timid, alternatively the wife's family is blossoming with joy and excitement about the wedding. This portrayal is clear because of the characters clothing as well, the grooms family are wearing all black as if they are attending a funeral which is ironically the opposite of a wedding. Then we see in further detail the the wife's family are wearing bright and colorful clothing which is illustrating their glee for their daughter. The depiction of the couple creating the house is a very memorable one, when they initially make the mail box we can see the clumsiness of the husband who accidentally places his hand on it which produces a hand print, the wife doesn't angry but accepts and joins in: this helps to characterize the couple as loving and accepting. Furthermore when they visit their typical picnic spot the wife moves up the hill in a fast pace whilst on the other hand her husband is much slower and once again introduces the narrative theory of binary opposites. Small details can't be excluded, such as the chairs which they sit in both represent the shapes of each others bodies: one is small and wide whilst the other is tall and skinny. If we look at Aristotle's research we can see that the beginning of this story is the loves and everlasting relationship that this couple have produced, the middle is the sadness which is shown through the loss of the child and as other happiness of once again relighting the idea of the holiday trip that his wife has been dreaming of since a child. Finally the ending is the death of his wife which gives the aura of hopelessness. In conclusion I can accept that the narrative is based upon the theologians who presented how the scenes are introduced and finished.