Nick Hornby's High Fidelity and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights both use the notion of love as their main plot; however, there is a 200 year discrepancy between each setting. Nonetheless, both novels delve into the plethora of romantic situations, heartbreaks and disappointments, and other important facets of our daily lives. Both authors, although stylistically different, successfully employ the literary mechanisms that are essential for great storytelling. Rob, the narrator of High Fidelity, often makes satirical,informal snarls and comical references, develops a complex and captivating plot, and investigates the intricacies of human nature, ultimately crafting an excellent story. The confluence of Mr. Lockwood's, the narrator of Wuthering Heights, sophisticated language, dynamic structure, and intoxicating story-line enhances the novel and serves as a model for subsequent literary works.
In Hornby's High Fidelity, Rob cleverly weaves f-bombs and wisecracks into the fabric of his story. This contemporary flair adds to the novel by creating an element of stream of consciousness; rather than meticulously fabricating a sentence based on the perfect word choice, Rob focuses more on what he has to say, rather than how he says it. His lack of care in word selection is not a sign of a dilettante storyteller, but it is inherently valuable because his informal approach adds a layer of authenticity. His word choice allows the audience to feel as though there is no facade they need to break down, but rather his words and story are directly representative of his thoughts. This connection between the teller and the audience is fundamentally imperative in the development of a story because it creates a sense of unity between the two. As an example of his word choice, Rob recounts the following on his lonely birthday that is spent watching movies and eating kettle chips: "Sounds like the sort of birthday a brand-new thirty-six-year-old should have. (Actually, it is the only sort of birthday a brand-new thirty-six-year old could have--the sort of thirty-six year-old-with no wife, family, girlfriend, or money, anyway. Kettle Chips! F-off!"
Although it is easy to discredit the story as a serious literary work due to its casual language, the underlying ideas and plot are thought-provoking and serious; this novel ultimately becomes more dynamic and impressive with the amalgam of casual prose and thoughtful meanings. Rob often intertwines passages that say a lot about humanity as a whole with his playful jargon. For example, Rob explores the relationship between the two men who work for him, Barry and Dick, after Dick finally has a date. Rob thinks, "and why does it bother Barry so much that Dick is seeing someone? Because he doesn't want a smile from a man with buckteeth and an anorak in the cinema queue, that's why; he's worried about how his life is turning out, and he's lonely, and lonely people are the bitterest of them all." This passage evokes emotion among the audience as Rob is actually honing in on key topics about society: insecurity and loneliness. Further, the structure and development of his plot both unveil Rob's greater understanding of successful storytelling. Because the audience gets a holistic history of Rob and his previous, fruitless relationships and is the listeners to his self-deprecating remarks, the audience automatically sympathizes for Rob and roots for him from the beginning. This investment from the audience is a sign of great storytelling.
Although completely different from High Fidelity, Bronte's Wuthering Heights also exemplifies expert storytelling. Apart from its intoxicating and twisting plot that explores the ideas of love, charity, and greed, Wuthering Heights entices the audience as it diverts from the norm because there are, in a sense, two different narrators. Its composition is constituted of a story within a story. For almost the entirety of the book, Mr. Lockwood, the story's main narrator, joins the audience in listening as Mrs. Dean, a housemaid also known as "Nelly", takes the role as the novel's teller. This structural nuance bonds the audience and Mr. Lockwood together as they embark on Mrs. Dean's complicated stories united, ultimately forcing the audience to feel part of the book because they share a similar role with one of the characters. As evidence of the full absorption into the story, the audience--and Mr. Lockwood--is periodically thrusted out of Mrs. Dean's story with her interruptions that she is tired and needs to go to sleep, or that she will continue the story the next time. With these occasional disturbances, the audience, as well as Mr. Lockwood, find themselves surprised at how immersed in the story they are. A further basic structural implication is that the audience is told the curious and bizarre outcome of the story in the very beginning, and then the happenings that spurred this result are later revealed. This method of teasing is very clever because the audience is thirsty for the background information and story from the get-go. The ending strengthens the story as the audience has quenched its thirst and relates the ending to the the beginning of the book. Because the ending runs parallel with the beginning, the audience is satisfied at how it all fits together perfectly.
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