Our teacher asked us to apply Propp's theories to the film 'The Shining'. Here are my findings:
I found that Propp's character types work well within the film, although the characters do switch roles throughout. Below is my opinion on which characters fit what roles:
The villain-Jack (Goes mental) & The Hotel (past memories)
The Donor-Hallorann (provides the snow mobile)
The Helper-Hallorann (travels to the hotel) & Tony (REDRUM)
The princess-Wendy/Danny
The Dispatcher-Hotel manager/Jack
The Hero or Victim-Wendy/Danny (both switch roles depending on the situation)
The False Hero-Hallorann (we think he's going to be the hero until he's killed)
I found that Propp's theories on narrative structure don't really apply in this particular film. Some of the functions he mentions do happen in the film, but at a different order than he predicts. Overall I don't think Propp's theories work well in the shining, as i think his theories apply more to classic fairy tales. Although i don't think the narrative structure works that well, the character types do apply and have us notice an underlying structure that wouldn't be noticed without his theories.
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