Beyond the Fortune

“THE GREATEST MISTAKE A MAN CAN MAKE IS TO BE AFRAID OF MAKING ONE.”

The success of the circus primarily relies on the risks that the performers are constantly taking to make their tricks great. Taking these constant risks requires courage and bravery, but mostly the acceptance that a trick could be successful but just as easily it could result in great failure. The advantage that the performers have above any other character, is the fact that they are protected by the fire. As long as they are within the circus, regardless of the trick, they will be safe so fear of failure isn’t a real fear.

On the other hand, characters such as Bailey, with zero magical powers or protection, can easily make mistakes. We are introduced to Bailey as an innocent farmer boy with the dream to go to Harvard but faced with the harsh reality that he might have to stay working at his family’s farm. When the circus comes to him, more specifically; when Poppet offers him the circus, he responds with “I’ll think about it, but I can’t promise anything” (359). At this point in the novel, Bailey now has three choices to make that will permanently change his future: Harvard, Farm-Boy life, or Circus. He knows that the circus is the choice with the most risk in taking, he knows nothing about the circus or what his role in it will be, yet he knows that the circus is where he belongs. He puts his fear aside and “Within moments of the though crossing his mind, Bailey is on his feet, running as fast as he can toward the depot” (409). After the circus has left, Bailey realizes that the biggest mistake he could make is not being part of the circus regardless of the outcomes. At the end of the novel, we find out that the outcomes were nothing but great things and his courage to take risks is what led him to own the circus.

Other characters such as Hector serve as perfect representation of this quote. Hector, as a magician, is constantly trying to improve his tricks. Fearlessly he risks his life to make everyone of his tricks better than the last. His fearlessness leads him to becoming invisible, an irreversible mistake that he made with the knowledge that it could result in a negative outcome. Celia also serves as an accurate representation for this quote. When she creates the Wishing Tree Marco asks “Do all of those wishes come true?” and she responds “I’m not sure” (289). Celia takes a risk and makes the Wishing Tree not knowing if it would result in failure but she knew that not making it at all would be a failure within it self. At the end we know that the tree does work when Marco says “I wished for her” (482).

Components of Magical Realism

These are the top 5 components to a Magical Realism novel and how they relate to Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

1. View of Reality: the supernatural is not questioned nor explained, its just accepted. No one questions how a fire can be black and white, they just embrace it.
2. Blurred Boundaries: borders are mixed and unclear. No explanation for why binaries such as black and white are used and then forgotten.
3. Typical Narrative Structures: the change in perspective. The story is told through the eyes of different characters.
4. Style: diction creates mystery. Word choice from the narrator or characters creates suspense for the reader.
5. Archetypes: reappearing images that represent something. The colors black and white are the circus’ theme.

Beyond the Happily Ever After

Hello Everyone!

Over the course of the week, I have been reading and analyzing fairy tales-not the cheesy Disney versions but the original ones-and I noted that, unlike other literature works, fairy tales share many archetypes (characters, motifs, images, etc.) and binary oppositions. In any movie, novel, or play there is always a ‘good vs evil’ opposition to form the structure of the plot and add to the entertainment aspect of the work. The same goes for a fairy tale; except that fairy tales only change the storyline but the archetypes typically stay consistent.

As I read the pieces of Red Riding Hood, Brother and Sister, Cinderella, The Prince and the Frog, Sleeping Beauty, & Baba Yaga, there is one common character archetype in all of them: the innocent. 

THE INNOCENT:

Attitude: Positive & free

Goals: To be happy

Strengths: Finding a positive outlook on situations & having unbiased ideals on life

Weaknesses: Blindly follows & easily manipulated

Importance to the story: They show the loss of innocence of every child both in the fairy tales but also in life

In all of the fairy tales that I mentioned above, there is a key role that is played by the innocent child. In Sleeping Beauty notice how she touches the spindle (that the kingdom knew would make her fall into deep slumber) due to an incredibly easy persuasion from the evil fairy. This is because the innocent wouldn’t harm anyone and thinks that know one would harm her.

In the fairy tales there we can see common trend: 

1. Introduction to the Innocent (protagonists)
2. Introduction to the setting/plot
3. Rising action: where we start to see the real intentions of the ‘evil’ character or the antagonist. This is also where we see the power that the antagonist has over the innocent.
4. Climax: where we see the innocent fighting of his or her life and the first step of the character loosing the innocence due to the evil.
5. Falling action: besides from the Little Red Riding Hood (where she dies) the falling action is where the innocent has now lost that purity in them.

The characters archetypes of innocent and evil are the ones that compose the overall plot of a fairy tale. They represent the real world, where we are all born innocent and pure and due to certain circumstances or people, we are forced to loose that purity and ‘grow up’.

XOXO,

Veronica