Grace Brennan
Personal Reflection
Professor Mary
ENGL 109
02/15/15
1
The 2 Most Important Elements of Fiction (As told by Grace)
Reading has always interested me. I find it fascinating that a simple
combination of words can have so much meaning. In my experience with literature, I
have always placed most of the importance on the characters, because without them
there would be no stories. Without characters, you wouldn’t even have to think
about the other elements of fiction. I had always figured that the characters were the
most important aspect of the story no matter what, but being in ENGL 109 has made
me realize that the characters and the point of view are my two favorite elements of
literature.
My mother spent a lot of time reading to my siblings and me while we were
growing up. She was a stay-at-home mom who worked hard to make sure that we all
would learn to love literature. One book I really enjoyed as a child was If You Give a
Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff. It was a cute story about what happens if you give
a pig a pancake and I loved the spunk of the little pig (Numeroff). Characters became
the only element of fiction that I cared about because I found them to be the most
interesting parts of the stories I was reading.
In ENGL 109, I still like to focus on the characters, but through our class
discussions I have also given a lot more thought to the concept of point of view. I
was always aware of this element of stories but I had never stopped to consider that
if the author hadn’t used a specific point of view, then the story would be totally
different. It’s actually crucial for the author to choose a perspective that will make
Grace Brennan
Personal Reflection
Professor Mary
ENGL 109
02/15/15
2
their story meaningful. A change in the point of view would drastically change the
entire story. Take a look at The Scarlet Letter, for example.
The Scarlet Letter is the story of Hester Prynne. Hester is a very strong
character who committed adultery and tries to hold her head up and not let people’s
negative comments get to her. I enjoyed reading about her various struggles and her
relationship with her daughter Pearl. Pearl is a classic round character that has
some charm and wit about her. Pearl is very interesting because her father is
actually a minister and not Mr. Chillingworth, Hester’s husband.
The third person omniscient point of view was an excellent choice for this
story because we can see the thoughts and feelings of several characters and not just
one. If we didn’t have this ability we wouldn’t know about Roger Chillingworth and
his almost evil mind when he looks at Dr. Dimmesdale. “Had a man seen old Roger
Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how
Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into
his kingdom” (Hawthorne 130). We also wouldn’t know who Pearl’s true father was
because we wouldn’t have the ability to get into each of the character’s minds, and
Hester may not have admitted it.
As I stated earlier, I also think that the characters and their traits are
obviously very important to the story. Just take a look at “Hunters in the Snow.” If
the characters of Tub, Frank, and Kenny didn’t have strong conflicting personalities
then the story would be about three friends walking through the snow and the plot
Grace Brennan
Personal Reflection
Professor Mary
ENGL 109
02/15/15
3
wouldn’t go anywhere. If they all got along, the story wouldn’t be exciting at all
because there would be no tension or depth to the characters. But the fact that Wolff
manages to develop round characters in such a short story is what makes me
admire the story so much. I really like how he had Frank start off as a bully to Tub
but then ended up making him a character that the readers liked by the end of the
story (Wolff 335-49). We learn to like Tub because we have sympathy for him. He
doesn’t want to be fat but he can’t help it because he loves food so much and he gets
mad fun of because of his appearance.
Separately, characters and point of view are important, but when you think
about both of them together, they become a dynamic duo. “The Story of an Hour” is a
great example of these two elements working together. Chopin does a fantastic job
developing the main character, Mrs. Mallard, from a very weak woman who grieves
the death of her husband into a remarkably strong woman who is grateful to be
independent in a very short amount of time. In order for this development to
happen, the story had to be told from the third person omniscient point of view.
The readers needed to know Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts to see how she changed.
In the beginning of the story, Mrs. Mallard is shocked, heartbroken, and worried
about what she will do with her life. As she beings to think about the fact that she
can be free to live life as she pleases, she becomes ecstatic that her husband has
died. When he returns and she dies at the sight of him, readers need to have that
background information to determine the cause of her death.
Grace Brennan
Personal Reflection
Professor Mary
ENGL 109
02/15/15
4
In addition to Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, readers need to know what the other
characters are doing throughout the story. For example, they need to know that Mr.
Mallard is returning from a long day of work and has no idea that his wife thinks he
is dead. If the story was told from the first person point of view, the readers would
know exactly why Mrs. Mallard died and that would take out some of the mystery
and open-endedness of the story (Chopin 83-86).
As you can see, the characters and the point of view are crucial for the
development of a good story. These elements set the tone and determine how the
action will occur. They are my favorite parts to discuss because they require a lot of
careful planning and consideration to give the story meaning. I’m glad that I’m in
ENGL 109 because Professor Mary has helped me to realize that no one element of
fiction is more important than the rest. The elements all work together to create
dynamic stories that readers will love.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” Fiction- A Pocket Anthology. Comp. R.S. Gwynn.
Seventh ed. Np.:n.p.. 2014 83-86. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Signet Classics, 2009. Print.
Numeroff, Laura Joffe., and Felicia Bond. If You Give a Pig a Pancake. New York:
Laura Geringer Book, 1998. Print.
Grace Brennan
Personal Reflection
Professor Mary
ENGL 109
02/15/15
5
Wolff, Tobias. “Hunters in the Snow.” Fiction- A Pocket Anthology. Comp. R.S. Gwynn.
Seventh ed. Np.:n.p., 2014. 335-49. Print.