Avoiding MacGuffin
In Christian Fagre’s essay, the narrator/character overcomes an
aversion to sport and a lack of talent to redefine and personalize the idea of
athletic success.
Christian faced a problem common to all writers who want to tell a
story about themselves: the problem of providing a convincing motivation.
Consider these two examples.
At the urging of his brother, a student goes out for Cross Country. He is not
physically fit; his physique is, shall we say, not typical of a distance runner. Yet he
sticks with the activity despite a dramatic lack of success. He musters enough
motivation to keep running, and eventually gets tremendous value from his
participation.
A gallery of famous film MacGuffins.
Top, The Briefcase (Pulp Fiction), The
Notebook (Hugo), The Maltese Falcon
from the film of the same name, and
perhaps the greatest MacGuffin of
them all, the elusive sled Rosebud
from Citizen Kane.
At the urging of his brother, a student goes out for Cross Country. He is
physically fit due to years of soccer and hockey and makes quick improvement in
his times, though he does not show the talent to become a star. He achieves
moderate success and keeps running, and eventually gains great value from his
participation.
In the first example, the essay has built-in power because of the
difference between our understanding of a typical student’s experience and
expectations of athletics, and our idea of what athletic success looks like. We
do not expect a student like this to show up and stick with a demanding sport,
especially one with so little obvious rewards. When he does stick with it, he
creates the kind of dramatic experience that makes essay writing easy.
But while the second scenario seems inherently less interesting as an
essay topic, it has an advantage: we accept the motivation without hesitation.
Only minor adjustments are necessary for the athlete to find reinforcement and
success in Cross Country. In other words, a fairly normal amount of motivation
is required to keep the athlete coming out and running until (as we know well)
experience and hard work and dedication start the rewards flowing and his
effort begins to pay off.
So long as the non-athlete keeps his experience to himself, this
motivation problem is irrelevant; either he does it or he doesn’t, and only he
knows why. But when the experience migrates to the pages of an essay, the
audience must be served. The athlete’s motivation is obvious enough to leave
unexplained; athlete gonna do athletics. But the non-athlete’s motivation must
be explained or the reader will not buy it. This will be a major blow to the
writer’s ethos, which is especially troubling when the essay relates a true
experience.
Consider two film shortcuts. First is the stereotype, a character that
comes pre-loaded with motivation. Serial killers commit the majority of TV or
film murders, yet only a tiny percentage of real murderers are serial killers.
Show your villain to be a serial killer and his motivation is settled.
The MacGuffin is a vague prize that motivates characters to action.
Obtaining the MacGuffin serves as the starting or initial motivation of the film
and satisfies the viewer’s requirement that motivation for the character’s
actions be explained. There are several ways the use of a MacGuffin can
resolve in films. The MacGuffin can be a symbol for a soul-destroying
pathology, as in Citizen Kane. Greed for the MacGuffin can distort people and
drive them to hideous ends while also providing a main character the
opportunity to rise above the greed and therefore reject a chance to possess
the MacGuffin. Or, most common in writing about true events, an initial, shallow
desire for the MacGuffin fades and is replaced by something internal—usually
a more mature or noble desire.
Virtually all of you will have to face the question of how you convey
motivation in the essay. Readers are very alert and attentive to motivation. They’ll notice and object if you omit or elide it by
relying on stereotypes. They won’t accept a simple or casual MacGuffin either. Serve your reader by avoiding both shortcuts:
don’t present your reader with the assumption that an athlete (for example) is always motivated by stereotypical jock desires.
And if you include a MacGuffin, keep it genuine and realistic.