Incidents to advance plot, to portray character, and we might call the Wildfire episode. In Ivanhoe the death of the Saxon Princess, Ulrica, in the flames of Torquilstone is an incident; all the incidents connected with the events at the castle form an episode which might well be called the siege of Torquilstone. Not all incidents are necessary to the plot. Those that do advance the plot are called plot incidents. to reveal setting Those that do not directly contribute to the plot, but help to reveal character or setting are called character incidents or incidents to reveal setting. But in an artistic book all incidents contribute something towards An incident to plot, character, or setting. In Silas Marner, show character for instance, the incident about Silas and his earthenware pot has no bearing on the plot; we never hear of it again. But it does show the character of Silas. Nancy's insisting that sisters should dress alike does not help the plot, but it does reveal the character of Nancy, with her strict, unyielding, narrow ideas of right and wrong. The death of Molly in the snow, however, is essential to the plot; the whole story hinges on it. On the other hand, the scene An incident to at the Rainbow Inn does not help much either towards advancing the plot or towards throwing light on the principal characters. Its function is to reveal setting by showing us the sort of village Raveloe is; hence it has a rightful place in the story. reveal setting Minor crises Besides incidents and episodes, a story usually contains a series of minor crises, exciting moments where the struggle of the opposing forces that make up the plot and the climax is sharp and intense, to a big climax or turning point in the struggle. In some books there is a series of climaxes of equal importance. Ivanhoe is a book of this kind. In others there is but one climax, with smaller dramatic moments leading up to it. The death of the Judge is the big turning point in The House of the Seven Gables, but there are also exciting moments leading up to it-when he tries to force his way past Phoebe and Hepzibah to the terror-stricken Clifford, for instance, and when Phoebe departs leaving her helpless cousins alone. In Jane Eyre there are numerous exciting scenes leading up to the interrupted wedding and just as many points of interest thereafter. In Kidnapped and Treasure Island and Lorna Doone the story advances steadily from one minor crisis to another. It is these moments that add greatly to the suspense of a book and make it possible for the author to move his story onward with increasing rapidity and interest. Another technical term used in the writing of fiction is the obligatory scene. An obligatory scene is one which the author has led us to expect and which, there- The obligatory fore, he is in duty bound to let us see. When scene in Silas Marner, we are told that sixteen years after Molly's death Godfrey Cass is to confess to Nancy, we feel entitled to be present at that scene; if George Eliot had not shown it to us, she would have broken faith with us. In The House of the Seven Gables we are made to expect that some day Judge Pyncheon will suffer the curse of the Maules, and we feel that we should be there when that dreadful event occurs. Hawthorne recognizes his obligation to the reader, giving a scene perhaps unnecessarily long. In Jane Eyre, we feel that we should see the solution of the mystery of the maniac imprisoned in the house; it is with an expectant thrill that we approach the outcome. In Kenilworth we expect to see the death of Amy Robsart ourselves, and the author does not disappoint us. In Lorna Doone, we are led to expect a final fight to the death between John Ridd and Carver Doone, and that, too, is given us. In The Cloister and the Hearth we expect that some day Margaret and Gerard will meet face to face after their long separation, and we see that tragic reunion. In The Master of Ballantrae we know that the final clash between the Master and his brother is inevitable, and we should have felt cheated had it not been described for us. An author, then, should give the scenes which he has led the reader to expect. The author's chief means of creating interest in his narrative is suspense. This element of suspense is very important and many are the devices for Importance of suspense securing it. A common way of securing suspense is by foreshadowing,that is, by hinting as to what is to come. Stories of adForeshadowing venture and mystery are usually full of foreshadowing, but this device is not confined to such stories. In The House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne hints that Clifford knows a secret about the house which he will ultimately reveal; that Holgrave is more intimately connected with the story of the Maules and the Pyncheons than we realize; that the Judge has done Hepzibah and Clifford a terrible wrong, that he will attempt to extort a secret from Clifford, and that he will in the end suffer the curse of the Maules. In Silas Marner, it is hinted that Molly may take a drop too much laudanum some day, and that Dunstan has met the fate which is afterward shown to have been his. Foreshadowing is a common and a valuable method of securing suspense, for it makes the reader anxious to see if his suspicions will be confirmed. endings Another method is by ending a chapter effectively so that the reader will be eager to go on to the next one. When Effective chapter we learn that Dunstan Cass "stepped forth into the darkness" with Silas Marner's gold, we are naturally anxious to learn what became of him; and when Silas finds a human body half hidden in the snow, we are all eagerness to know what happens next. When we read in Vanity Fair that "Amelia was praying for George, who was lying on his face, dead, with a bullet through his heart," the dramatic close to the chapter makes it certain that we shall read on. Suspense secured by with holding infor mation Still a third way of securing suspense is by withholding information which the reader would like to know. In Silas Marner, when we are not told for almost a third of the book what became of Dunstan Cass, our curiosity becomes strong indeed. In Jane Eyre, when we suspect that there is a mysterious person kept under lock and key in Thornfield Manor, we are naturally anxious to know more about her. In Kidnapped, when David and Alan become separated, we read on for several chapters to see what has become of Alan. Scott frequently leaves one group of characters in a perilous position and takes up another thread of the narrative. Another means of securing suspense that is especially common in romantic fiction is by disguise. Disguise In Ivanhoe, the mysterious Palmer who "stooped over the bed of the recumbent swineherd, and whispered something in his ear in Saxon," and the Black Knight illustrate the use of this device. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes shows the value of disguise in creating uncertainty. A method somewhat akin to withholding information is the inserting of description at an exciting point. In scenes of shipwreck, as in David Copperfield and Kidnapped; or of fire, as in Ivanhoe; or fights and How descripsuspense tion secures slaughter, as in The Cloister and the Hearth, Quentin Durward, and Westward Ho!, description is essential for creating an atmosphere of excitement. Even in quieter books, a passage of description interpolated at an exciting point—for example, the passage where the Judge sends Hepzibah for Clifford in The House of the Seven Gables-is a valuable means of increasing suspense. Other methods are surprise, that is, the sudden occurrence of something unexpected; dramatic moments, which are minor crises, and climax. The unexpected Suspense by surprise, by dramatic moments, and by climax appearance of the princess in the forest in Westward Ho! and the shooting of Lorna on her wedding day in Lorna Doone are examples of surprise; the defiance of the Templar by Rebecca in Ivanhoe, the murder of the Bishop by William de la Marck in Quentin Durward, and the death of George in Vanity Fair are examples of dramatic moments; the sacrifice of Sidney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, the interrupted wedding in Jane Eyre, the final expiation of Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter, and the duel between the Master and his brother in The Master of Ballantrae are examples of climax. All these methods of securing suspense are legitimate and all are used frequently enough to make it worth your while to study their use in the next novel you read. THE ENDING OF A STORY The ending of a story is not so difficult as the beginning, because the story has been steadily progressing towards a preconceived end. The two dangers to be avoided in an ending are prolonging it unnecessarily after the story is over through reluctance to say farewell to the characters; and sacrificing logic and probability for the sake of making a "happy ending." It would have been a mistake for George Eliot to end Silas Marner by giving Godfrey Cass complete happiness after he had turned a blessing from his door for so long. A happy ending to The Cloister and the Hearth is impossible, and the final separation of David and Alan in Kidnapped is inevitable. It is an inexcusable weakness to end a story happily when its whole course has tended in the other direction. On the other hand, a story of a search |