What is a FRAME NARRATIVE?
• In a nutshell, a frame narrative is
a “story within a story”
Examples of FRAME NARRATIVES...
• Titanic – (the movie) the story of “Old Rose”
revisiting the site of the Titanic “bookends”
the love story of Jack and “Young Rose”
onboard the ship in 1912
• Forrest Gump – Forrest (in the present) is
telling his life story (of Forrest in the past) to
various citizens on the park bench
• Can you think of any others?
Another way to view FRAME NARRATIVES...
• We can look at frame narratives as a diagram
• For example, with Titanic:
“Old Rose”
Love story of “Young Rose”
and Jack
FRAME NARRATIVE in
Life of Pi
• Martel uses a FRAME NARRATIVE
• Begins with an author’s note, narrated by
an anonymous author figure, presumably
Martel himself
• This creates the illusion that the book is
fact/real, when in fact it is FICTIONAL
• Why do you think he may have done
this?
FRAME NARRATIVE in
Life of Pi
• The italicized passages are the voice of
an anonymous author (Yann Martel) who
is writing Pi’s story, told in his own words
• Provides a description of how he learned
about Pi and his interviews with Pi in the
present
FRAME NARRATIVE in
Life of Pi
• The story has THREE narrative voices (plus a
“mystery” voice...)
• The author of the novel itself, Yann Martel
• The “author” of the Author’s Note (who is talking
about meeting with Francis (Mamaji)
Adirubasamy and interviewing “real” Pi while
researching for the novel
• Piscine Molitor Patel (“Older Pi”) narrating the
story of his younger self
• Can you figure out the “mystery voice”? See if
you can once you have finished the novel
FRAME NARRATIVE in
Life of Pi
• Now that we have all the “voices” for our FRAME
NARRATIVE, draw a diagram to represent them
Yann Martel
Author’s Note
“Older Pi”
?
So what is the PURPOSE of a FRAME
NARRATIVE?
• The shifts in point of view (POV) serve to create a
sense of verisimilitude
• Verisimilitude – the appearance of something to
be real or true – when what we are reading
appears to be true
• e.g. A character in a book cuts his/her finger and
the finger bleeds. We believe it is happening – if
the book said the cut finger produced sparks of
fire rather than blood, the story would NOT
possess verisimilitude
So what is the PURPOSE of a FRAME
NARRATIVE?
• Even fantasy or sci-fi novels/stories which deal
with impossible (or very improbable) events can
possess verisimilitude if the reader is willing to
suspend their disbelief
• Willing suspension of disbelief – when a
reader/viewer temporarily and willingly sets aside
their beliefs about reality in order to enjoy the
“make-believe” of a play, novel, poem or movie
– e.g. We can watch Harry Potter without feeling
“gullible” as long as we, the audience, set aside our
sense of what is “real” for the duration of the movie.
FIN