While telling surely assists the construction of a tale, the tale necessarily lies beyond the telling. Discuss

Style vs . Substance in the Short Story

Unlike the novel , a short story may demonstrate style over substance that is , the method that the author uses to tell the tale may take precedent over the tale itself . that is particularly true when the story itself is less important than the meaning behind the story , as is the case in both of these stories from The New Yorker . The first of these stories , Shauntrelle ' is a tale about a woman 's search for herself in the context of a familiar world . The second story

, My Parents Bedroom ' tells the tale of a young girl who is only then starting to find her identity when it is lost in a senseless war that is changing her familiar world into one that is both strange and threatening to her and to her brother

In Shauntrelle ' Antonya Nelson 's characters seek to find something better ' in themselves . It is clear that Fanny Mann 's reconstruction of herself , piece by piece , is parallel to the clearing of the wreckage in and the restoration of New Orleans . When Fanny 's home is repaired she is also whole once again and is ready to move on . By contrast Constance is simply that : she is constant , true to herself as she takes a path she dislikes simply because she created it . The structure of this story is a clear arc , rising as she approaches her new apartment and falling as she leaves . However , unlike Fanny Mann , Constance has not even undergone an outward transformation . She entered the apartment fallen and wounded by her failed relationship and has been unable to reclaim an unfallen state (Nelson , 2008 ,

. 7 . Although Fanny came to the conclusion that repairing the exterior does not always make the interior whole , the story is not hers , so its structure does not reflect her experiences the way it does Constance 's

In My Parents ' Bedroom ' the structure again mirrors what the children are experiencing . The reader becomes aware of the reality of what is happening as the children--or at least the narrator--becomes aware of it . As the narrator attempts to make sense of her increasingly insane world , she reports that she herself is losing a grip on reality as her mind begins doing things on its own (p . 9 . Monique and her brother are not only the subjects of this story , however rather , with their differing appearances , each resembling a different parent , they are also the symbols of a country torn apart by war

Both of these stories are highly stylized . In Shauntrelle ' little that could pass as story ' really seems to take place . However , that factor alone illustrates that the method by which these authors tell these stories is at least as important as the stories themselves . The stories ' symbolism and structure move the plot as effectively as the words that tell them . In fact , the words the authors have written are of less important than the meanings behind the stories : it is less...