Continuing with Propp’s Fairy Tale Functions, today, we’ll look
at the next four stages: Villainy or Lack, Mediation, Beginning Counter-Action,
Departure. We’ll continue using the films Aladdin,
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Stardust for example material, and as stated before, the examples
are mine, but the comments on each stage are paraphrases of the material in
Christopher Vogler and David McKenna’s book Memo
from the Story Dept. Also noted before, Propp’s Functions are not a rigid
structure. The functions can be in nearly any order, as you’ll find is the case
with my examples.
Note: these four functions are a unit that Propp calls “Complication”,
and it may occur in the body of the story or at the very beginning. So, for
this particular post, I’ll present the four Functions, and then afterward, give
the examples, showing how these four functions sort of meld together.
On Villainy: Propp
notes that stories need either an evil deed or a harmful lack to drive them. The
initial act of villainy may be the catalyst that upsets the hero’s world and
triggers the adventure, or the villainy may be what finally propels the hero
into adventure. This act of violence or evil can be performed at almost any
point in a story structure, even before the birth of the hero, if it’s an
action that negatively affects the hero’s life.
On Lack: Propp
discovered that some tales had no detectable villain, and yet the hero had to
struggle against something, a condition he calls Lack. The absence of something
in the hero’s life or in his community motivates the hero and the tale to
action, striving to find, win back, replace, rescue, or restore the missing
element. In different fairy tales, a loved one is kidnapped enchanted, or lost,
the hero needs a horse or a sword, or the people are starving in a famine. The
Lack is an absence in the main character or a missing element in a family or
society. Love stories and family dramas may be Lack-driven and have no real
villains, though there may be someone who can temporarily play that role.
9. Mediation, the
Connective Incident: A “dispacther” makes misfortune or lack known to the
hero; the hero is approached with a request for help, sent on a mission by the “dispatcher,”
or released from captivity.
Propp identifies two logical steps in the progression of a story:
one, the hero must be made aware of the lack or villainy, and two, the hero
must be called, sent, or released into the adventure to redress the lack or
villainy.
10. Beginning
Counter-Action: Usually a verbal declaration of the hero’s intent.
This is when the hero commits to the adventure or is thrown into it.
There may be an announcement of this development, but it can be more effective
to simply show heroes setting out or making preparations that make it clear
they are beginning their “counter-action”.
11. Departure: The
hero leaves home to undertake the adventure.
It’s not enough for the hero to simply declare an intention to go
forth; he or she must be seen actually going.
So, for the examples:
In Aladdin, the villain
Jafar first wrongs Aladdin when he sends the palace guards to arrest him,
although Aladdin has no idea that Jafar is the villain until a bit later. By
the time he is arrested, he has met Princess Jasmine and quite quickly fallen
in love. When he is separated from her, he suffers from Lack, as well as Jafar’s
Villainy. In prison, Aladdin meets the “dispatcher” who will send him on a
mission. Jafar-in-disguise tells Aladdin of the Cave of Wonders and the treasure
that he holds. He asks Aladdin to fetch a bit of the treasure—the genie’s lamp—for
him, and he will be granted a great treasure in return. Aladdin agrees—his verbal
declaration. And when Jafar-in-disguise and Aladdin reach the Cave of Wonders,
Aladdin steps into the sand tiger’s mouth, effectively leaving the normal world
he calls home.
In Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone, the villain Voldemort commits his act of evil when Harry
is just a baby: he kills Harry’s mother and father and then tries to kill baby
Harry as well, which he learns from Hagrid, the “dispatcher”. Though Harry does
not truly have to face Voldemort’s Villainy until the near end of the story, it
negatively affects his life. He’s forced to live with his awful relatives the Dursleys
until he is eleven, not ever knowing who he really is. Hagrid again acts as “dispatcher”
by freeing Harry from the captivity of living with the Dursleys. But not only
does Harry suffer from Villainy, he also suffers from Lack because his parents
are absent. And his actions in the story are an effort to replace his parents
with a new family.
Though the next function would be Beginning Counter-Action, Harry
performs this function before he
learns of Voldemort, when Hagrid arrives at the shanty on the sea to fetch
Harry. When he learns that he is a wizard and that he doesn’t have to live with
the Dursley’s any longer, he makes the choice to go with Hagrid, leaving home
in order to undertake the adventure. This is an example of how the functions
are not a rigid structure.
In Stardust, the villain
that drives Tristan into action is not the witch, but Humphrey, Victoria’s
boyfriend. Although he is merely a tiny antagonist in the grand scheme of
things, he is the reason Tristan decides to cross the wall. When Victoria tells
Tristan that Humphrey is travelling to Ipswich to get her an engagement ring,
Tristan is prompted to prove to Victoria how much he loves her, claiming he
would cross the wall to fetch the fallen star. Victoria then acts as the “dispatcher”,
agreeing to marry Tristan if he fetches the fallen star by her birthday.
Tristan agrees to the arrangement and then makes for the wall.
As you can see, these four functions are bundled together rather
tightly, but not necessarily in order. Next post, we’ll continue with the next
few stages.
Read the previous post in the series: Propp's Functions, Part 2
Read the next post in the series: Propp's Functions, Part 4
Read a summary of all Propp's functions in the Introduction to Propp's Fairy Tale Functions
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Read the previous post in the series: Propp's Functions, Part 2
Read the next post in the series: Propp's Functions, Part 4
Read a summary of all Propp's functions in the Introduction to Propp's Fairy Tale Functions
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