What Is a Multiple Narrative? | Education

张惠兰yb54nrey 2019-09-05

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Multiple narratives can carry a story on several different tracks that can run parallel, can intersect, or can go off in different directions. — Written by Maria Magher

Multiple narratives bend the rules for conventional narratives that have a linear structure, one overarching story arc, and a single point of view. Instead, multiple narratives employ tactics such as multiple narrators, telling a story within a story or bringing together multiple story arcs. There are many strategies that can be used for multiple narrative, and they can help to enhance the theme, create a stronger story arc, or deepen characterization.

Multiple Perspectives

Telling a story from multiple perspectives is one of the most common ways to create a multiple narrative. This strategy can include either changing narrator or point of view to explain a single incident from multiple perspectives, or it can include using multiple narrators to provide fragments of the same story. An example of the first technique is used in the film 'Rashomon,' which tells the same story of a groom being killed in a forest attack several times through several narrators. Each telling of the story leads to a different interpretation of the events. An example of the second technique is used in the book 'As I Lay Dying' by William Faulkner, which employs 15 narrators to tell parts of the story of how one family buries its matriarch.

Intersecting Story Lines

A multiple narrative can also include multiple story lines that intersect. The story lines may have some obvious connection, such as a similar theme or shared characters. In many cases, the connection is not obvious until the story lines cross over. For example, in 'The Hours' by Michael Cunningham, three story lines are presented in three separate times and places. Each story shares a similar theme, and the novel 'Mrs. Dalloway' features in each of them. It is not until the end of the book that some of the connections are made, such as that the woman who leaves her family in one story is the mother of the man who commits suicide in another story.

Story Within a Story

Some multiple narratives tell a story within a story through the use of letters, journal entries, or another character telling the story. For example, in 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker, Celie's story is the main narrative, but a secondary narrative forms about her sister, Nettie, and her adventures with missionaries in Africa. Nettie's story is told through a series of letters that she sends to Celie. The story within a story can be used to create a subplot, set up foil characters, or create suspense. In 'The Color Purple,' the story within a story shows how a change in circumstance could have led to a different life, and it sets up suspense for reuniting Celie with her children.

Story at Different Times

A multiple narrative can also be created by telling one story from different points in time. This is most commonly achieved by showing a story from the perspective of a character during youth and then again in old age. For example, in 'Evening' by Susan Minot, while Ann Grant is on her deathbed, she reflects on the love that got away. The story is mostly told as an extended flashback. The technique enhances the theme of personal responsibility and happiness by showing the effects of her decisions over many years, and it deepens the characterization for all the principal characters in both story lines.

References

About the Author

Maria Magher has been working as a professional writer since 2001. She has worked as an ESL teacher, a freshman composition teacher and an education reporter, writing for regional newspapers and online publications. She has written about parenting for Pampers and other websites. She has a Master's degree in English and creative writing.