Story Type: an exploration

So now that we have a definition of what a story is, we can begin to look at the concepts surrounding the story.

First, we can talk about Types of stories.  Much has been discussed about the seven basic plots, the contention that there are only a finite number of story types that can be written, and this handful of plots provides the structure for the uncounted millions of stories that have been written, and that can be written.  The problem with this theory is that analysts are always coming up with different story types, or shaping them in slightly different ways.  Some find five story types, some seven, some considerably more.  As with much of the study of literature, our understanding is always improved with additional voices.

But when you think about how stories are divided into types, remember that the value of the types lies in the ways that we make stories relate to each other.  We say that this story references or relates to that story because they share the same type. Types are valuable when they help you understand a story, but are not required when a story doesn't conform to the given classifications.

Types:

Quest: a difficult journey to accomplish a specific objective.  A classic example is the quest for the Holy Grail. The Lord of the Rings, for example, follows a specific quest to destroy a ring by throwing it into the fires of Mt Doom. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sleeping Beauty, Star Wars: A New Hope

The Voyage:  The character leaves their own world to journey to a strange land, overcome the dangers there, and achieve a greater understanding of themselves.   The Odyssey, The Hobbit

Struggle: two forces, or two individuals are struggling or battling with each other for supremacy.  This could be a military battle The Illiad, Patton vs Rommel, or a solo conflict Batman vs Superman, Alien vs Predator, Prince Caspian

Overcoming the monster: This is a struggle against something distinctly other-worldly or in-human.  Beowulf, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Aliens, Criminal Minds

Redemption: a character on a negative path due to his own poor choices undergoes a transformation and achieves significant personal growth and accomplishment.  Eustace in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, A Christmas Carol, Despicable Me, Les Miserables

Rags to Riches:  the underdog in poor circumstances overcomes tremendous odds to achieve something greater. Nicholas Nickleby, Cinderella, Little Women

Tragedy:  a character is beset by extraordinary circumstances that inevitably reduce his fortunes and may ultimately destroy him. The downfall could be brought on by his own poor choices and we see him get his just deserts.  Or the hero could be suffering from a cruel fate, and we watch him make the best choices he can given the circumstances while admiring his nobility in the face of disaster. Hamlet, Macbeth, Dr Faustus, Madame Butterfly, Gladiator, Sweeney Todd

Enlightenment:  The characters start in a state of confusion or miscommunication that is ultimately resolved when the confusion is replaced by understanding, often as a result of a benevolent act by the hero, and the characters are left better off because of it. Most comedies fall into this story type.  Twelfth Night, Notting Hill

Unexpected Story Types

The problem with identifying rigid types, however, is when you encounter stories that don't fit neatly into given categories.  Literary critics may see different distinctions in the same story.  For example, in the story of the Lion King, Simba is disillusioned with the intrigues and dangers of life with the pride, and leaves with Timon and Pumba to a state of 'hakuna matata.'  Nala comes looking for him and convinces him of his responsibilities to the pride, whereupon he returns and brings order to the pridelands. 

In considering story types, is this a Redemption story, where the slacking Simba becomes more responsible?  Or is it an Enlightenment story where his own state of happy confusion is replaced by a larger understanding of life and his role in it?  Maybe this is a story of Voyage and Return, since Simba goes away and then comes back, or perhaps a Struggle between himself and Scar.

The answer lies with the reader, and in answering that question, the reader attains a better understanding of the work.  Story types are tools of criticism that reveal insights into the story, not rigid constraints that authors are required to follow. 

For example, if The Lion King were a story of Voyage and Return, the reader would expect a great deal of narrative committed to what Simba experienced when he was eating bugs and worms with Pumba.  In fact, we know very little about that area, and the story implies that nothing happened there.  Literary analysis would suggest that this isn't a story of Voyage and Return, and if the writer were trying to create such a story, they would have constructed it differently.

A critical essay might go on to say that because the young Simba was driven away by his uncle Scar, it is hard to assign blame to him for 'slacking.'  And without guilt, it is equally hard to say that Simba is in need of redemption.  Instead, this is more a situation of Enlightenment both internally, through his own coming-of-age, and externally by being informed by Nala.  And when he hears the call, he responds promptly.

Because there are identifiable story types, this creates another phenomenon.  Much of literature is referential.  It refers to earlier works. It may even refer to the archtypical story type.  You could, for example, compare the Enlightenment story of Simba with a similar story for Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back. While it was a dark time for the rebellion, just as it was for the Pridelands, both Simba and Luke used their initial defeat as opportunities for growth in power and understanding, so they could return and overcome the evil from which they previously fled.

From this perspective, balance the apparent negative trajectory of Luke:

• Rebel base overrun by Imperials,
• Wampa fodder, 
• belly of the Taunton, 
• stuck in a swamp, 
• hand chopped off and 
• falling thousands of feet
• to dangle helplessly from an antenna from the bottom of Cloud City

with an upward trajectory of continual enlightenment:

• Smart enough to defeat an AT-AT with a tow cable, 
• Kenobi isn't dead and is still communicating with him, 
• intensive Jedi training from Yoda
• awakening to the Force
• attaining Jedi vision, 
• understanding his father, Darth Vadar
• communicating with his sister, Leia  ("We have to go back")
• realization of the strength and value of his friends
• a renewed sense of purpose for the Rebellion. 

So one value of story types is that it gives us a clue as to which of these two trajectories we should be following.  If Luke's story in Empire was a Quest (to save Han, for example), we would have to say that he failed utterly.  We might be able to buy that it was Luke's Tragedy, but if so, it feels strangely incongruous to fit it into the middle of a heroic adventure space opera.  And even more so, to then rely on this tragic figure as the main heroic protagonist of the next film.  When we consider it as a story of Enlightenment, though, these objections fall away.

Now compare this with the story of Spencer Reed from Criminal Minds  Dr. Reed first supported his mother through the early stages of schizophrenia, then abandoned her to a mental hospital when it became too much for him, finding purpose for his 'gift' and a new maturity with the FBI.  Finally, he returned to renew and strengthen their relationship after he thought his mother was in danger. The story of Reed and his mother has many common elements with Simba in the Lion King, and knowing that lets us understand that Reed's is an Enlightenment story.  If that's true, we can feel pleased with the understanding that Reed has attained, rather than saddened or frustrated that Reed is not able to help his mother with her illness.

By looking through the lens of story type, we can begin to see patterns of similarity among distinctly different stories from different times (1980, 1994, 2005) and different genres.  Because a story is an interaction between the five components, no two stories need to be identical. The story type may be the same, but the character and setting and conflict, etc. can all be different, creating completely different stories within the same type.

It's also possible that understanding what story they are writing might help authors avoid incongruities that might cause the story to fail.  Often, the same tale can be re-told, re-imagined by changing from one story type to another.  Traditionally, the story of Sleeping Beauty is a classic quest tale where a brave night faces dangers from thorns, demons, and a dragon to rescue a princess and returns to live happily ever after.  Re-imagined, this is a redemption story where a wrathful fairy queen is transformed by her love for the young princess and eventually releases the princess to find her own happiness.