Next up in Propp’s Fairy Tale Functions: Struggle, Branding,
Victory, and Liquidation, using Aladdin,
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Stardust for examples. Commentary on the stages belongs to
Christopher Vogler and David McKenna, authors of Memo from the Story Dept. Examples are mine.
Because Propp’s functions follow traditional Russian fairy tales,
there may be some future stages that don’t correlate with my previous examples.
In that case, I’ll use a new example that does.
A struggle, a game, a contest, a wrestling match, or a tug of war
between two well-matched opponents is the essence of entertainment, and can
hold our attention like nothing else. Our instinctive sense is that if a
narrative doesn’t have something of this nature in its center, it’s not a very
good story. Though Propp doesn’t specify what kind of struggle, we know it should
be for high stakes, usually life and death. If there is no actual villain to
struggle with, then the heroes will contend with the Lack or the forces that
resist them, and that struggle will bring the heroes to the edge of death.
When Aladdin enters the Sultan’s palace disguised as Prince Ali,
he argues with Jafar about who Princess Jasmine should marry. While this isn’t
a life or death situation, this is a love story, and so Aladdin’s success or
failure in stating his case could change the result of his romantic pursuit.
Harry faces several minor struggles over the course of the story,
but the first real struggle against
the villain occurs when Harry is serving detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden
Forest. Tracking a unicorn, Harry discovers a robed specter of sorts drinking
the unicorn’s blood, which then attacks him.
Tristan Thorne faces the witch Lamia, trying to protect Yvaine. While
it’s not so much a battle as him fleeing, the stakes are extraordinarily high.
If he does not succeed in getting away, both he and Yvaine will die.
17. Branding: The hero
is visibly wounded in the battle, or is branded or marked somehow after the
battle, or receives a token like a ring or a scarf, which will later prove his
victory.
This is a most interesting feature of fairy tales, echoing the
mythic motif of the wounded hero. These visible signs of injury underscore the
seriousness of the adventure, and may be symbolic of the hero’s inner
transformation or transfiguration. They serve a practical function in the plot,
helping to identify the hero as the true victor in the battle when doubt is
cast on his claims later in the story. Physical tokens like rings and scarves
serve the same purpose, though they are less dramatic than a physical wound.
In Aladdin’s case, he’s branded by Jasmine’s scorn upon hearing
the men argue about her fate as if she is a thing, not a person. This ‘brand’
is reflective of the struggle he faced.
Harry receives his brand long before the struggle in the Forbidden
Forest—his lightning bolt scar. But upon facing this shade of Voldemort, his
scar hurts to the point that Harry loses focus and almost falls prey to the
villain. But the centaur Firenze comes to the rescue.
While fleeing from Lamia, Tristan sticks his arm in wicked green
flames to light the remainder of the Babylon candle. While he doesn’t seem to
suffer any burns as a result, he endured the pain and his own fear in order to
save their lives.
18. Victory: The
villain is defeated. In some of Propp’s fairy tale samples, the original villain
is killed or neutralized but is replaced by a second villain.
In modern stories our primary villains may have a
life-threatening confrontation with the hero at the midpoint Ordeal, but they
usually survive to face the hero again at the climax, where they will finally be
defeated. However, the hero might enjoy are partial Victory over the villain or
his agent at the halfway point. We might think the villain is dead, only to
discover later he has survived by some trick.
In Propp’s sample of Russian fairy tales were a number of
examples in which there were two villains—the original adversary and a second
villain or rival, a false claimant who appears rather late in the story to
dispute the hero’s claim of having defeated the first villain. This creates
suspence and complication, and sets the stage for the popular fairy tale motif
of the three impossible tasks, which are imposed by the princess or her father
to prove who is worthy.
We don’t use the second villain ploy very often in modern stories,
unless in romantic ones where an old flame may flare up just before the wedding
to test the bond between the bride and groom. Most stories set up a single
strong antagonist and let him or her harass the hero from start to finish.
In Aladdin, Jafar
attempts to have Aladdin killed, but thanks to Genie, he survives. Immediately,
he goes to the palace and reveals Jafar as he really is—an evil, manipulating
dude. The Sultan then orders Jafar’s imprisonment.
In Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone, this stage is at the end of the story, when Harry faces
Voldemort in front of the Mirror of Erised. He successfully takes the Sorcerer’s
Stone and destroys Professor Quirrell, Voldemort’s host.
In Stardust, Tristan
somewhat successfully uses the Babylon candle, effectively escaping the witch. Lamia
is temporarily defeated.
19. Liquidation: The
harm done by the villain is healed or whatever was lacking is restored.
This is where the hero takes his prize for defeating the villain.
Propp’s highly flexible model allows for stories to end at this point, with the
initial problem solved. However, he notes that many stories gather themselves
for another burst of narrative, continuing the tale to describe the hero’s
difficulties in claiming his reward and winning love. If this is the end of the
story, the Liquidation should completely heal the damage caused by the villain
or fill the void caused by the Lack. There should be a satisfying feeling of
poetic justice, the sense that the punishments fit the crimes and the rewards
and compensations are appropriate to the injuries. Any deviation from these
equations will feel wrong and unsatisfying to the audience.
Aladdin wins Jasmine’s heart and her hand in marriage.
Harry helps Gryffindor win the House Cup because of his actions,
and for the time being, Voldemort is no longer a threat.
Tristan, as a result of escaping the witch, now has Yvaine again.
Next post, we’ll cover the next four stages.
Read the previous post in the series: Propp's Functions, Part 4
Read the next post in the series: Propp's Functions, Part 6
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 4
Read the next post in the series: Propp's Functions, Part 6
Read a summary of all Propp's functions in the Introduction to Propp's Fairy Tale Functions
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