Function Follows Form: The Postmodern Novel

I wrote this for a class that focused on Postmodern literature that, in turn, focused on the Victorian era. Two of the three novels I ended up using were my favourites, and the remaining one I had to include because it was for a group project. This essay is one of my proudest, even if the subject itself isn’t the most flashy. Hope you enjoy!

Function Follows Form: The Postmodern Novel

In architecture, the mantra “form follows function” is present within nearly every discussion of what makes a “good” building. The reversal of this, “function follows form,” applies most directly to postmodern, nonlinear novels. The nature of this form allows for much more nuanced and dynamic narratives, albeit by running the risk of ruining the novel. In “Alias Grace,” Margaret Atwood effectively uses nonlinearity to more accurately depict the state of mind that Grace Marks experiences throughout the novel. Jeffery Eugenides’ novel “The Marriage Plot” experiments with nonlinear plots through the lens of different characters’ recollections. Lastly, in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel “The Remains of the Day,” the nonlinearity of the narrative is used to recount and contextualize the two different timelines present in the story. These three novels, despite using different nonlinear narrative styles, are all exceptional and effective examples of nonlinear narrative. Where other novels may become bogged down by the narrative or difficult to follow, these three novels remain approachable and immersive. “The Remains of the Day” most effectively utilizes nonlinear narrative out of the three novels listed through the simultaneous exploration of Stevens’ present and past for the mutual benefit of each. Each of these novels effectively explores postmodern themes and ideals through their respective narratives, characters, and masterful nonlinearity.

In “Alias Grace,” the titular character Grace Marks is fractured and triune, her broken consciousness facilitating a broken timeline throughout the novel. Through letters, articles, epigraphs, and a mixture of third- and first-person narration, Atwood clearly conveys the disjointed nature of Grace Marks’ state of mind. The nonlinear timeline allows her distinct voices to be present from chapter to chapter – rather than a linear change that is to be conveyed through a gradual shift over the course of the novel, each voice is present throughout the book from beginning to end. These voices are amplified or reduced based on the situation being described, each combining with the others to create the “true” narrative altogether. This “truth,” however, is something that Atwood pushes back against even within the novel: “Why should she be expected to produce nothing but the pure, entire and unblemished truth? Anyone in her position would select and rearrange, to give a positive impression” (Atwood, 322). This, along with the accounts, whether from the letters and news clippings, or from the voices of Grace Marks (et al) or Dr. Jordan, establish a post-truth nonlinear narrative throughout the novel. This format elevates the nonlinearity from simply a narrative structure to a form that is inextricable from the plot and characters.

In Lynn Hunt’s essay “"No Longer an Evenly Flowing River": Time, History, and the Novel,” the relationship between time and narrative in Margaret Atwood’s novels is examined, largely through the lens of another essay, written by Atwood herself, titled "In Search of Alias Grace: On Writing Canadian Historical Fiction.” In the essay, Hunt posits that the relationship between narrative and time are reflected in reality:

“Time runs through her essay like a haunting motif, but Atwood does not use it to distinguish history from fiction. Everything she says about the novel in this regard- "The novel concerns itself, above all, with time ... there must be change in a novel" -might also, and uncontroversially, be said about history. There are clocks in history, too. When Atwood strikes her different notes on the meaning of time, she is unperturbed by any worries about the boundaries between history and fiction.” (Hunt, 2)

In other words, Atwood uses a nonlinear narrative structure to better reflect the realities of time and memory. However, she also agrees that “there must be change in a novel” (Hunt, 2). Unlike other nonlinear novels, her narrative pushes forward, ever captive to yet ever the willing participant to the onward flow of time. It is this concession that gives “Alias Grace” its effectiveness – it has all the trappings of nonlinearity without the baggage of a lack of forward momentum.

Non-linearity takes on a much different role in Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel “The Marriage Plot.” Rather than a reflection on the past, Eugenides puts the focus on the three main characters: Madeleine, Leonard, and Mitchell. As events are recounted through their individual timelines, our view is limited to what they perceive. However, throughout the novel, timelines overlap as the perspective shifts between characters. This overlap illuminates the breadth of experiences that the same scene can bring about through different perspectives. By employing these as-needed, rather than at every perspective shift, the reader has access to relevant information when the arc requires it, not when the timeline demands. This differs gently from the other novels. Where Atwood seeks to display Grace Marks’ lack of cogent memory and subsequent lack of narrative truth, Eugenides seeks to fill in the gaps that individual perspective creates and to better inform the reader on the significance of each scene for each character. Similarly, Ishiguro seeks to provide context about Stevens’ life and character through the narrative, although Ishiguro favors a more zoomed-in approach by limiting the differences to the past and present of a single character.

In Karen Newman’s “Can This Marriage Be Saved: Jane Austen Makes Sense of an Ending,” the nature of marriage in Jane Austen’s novels is associated with her narrative choices and the meaning that can be derived from them. This reflects broadly on not just the genre that Jane Austen was writing in, but also the postmodern literature we have read for this class. The nature of the postmodern is that meaning is not lifted from a text in any straightforward fashion. Rather, it is something that must be sought after. Similarly in Jane Austen‘s novels, the exact point of them is not necessarily immediately apparent. Nevertheless, meaning can be gleaned from both Austenian and postmodern novels by examining them critically. As Newman states: “Meaning is produced not so much by resolution, but by means of oppositions and contradictions, by the incompatibility of several meanings” (Newman, 8). In “The Marriage Plot,” the novel’s meaning lies within the characters’ narrative arcs – that is, everything between the epigrammatic maxim that begins the story – “To start with, look at all the books” (Eugenides, 3) – and the final line.

The nonlinearity of “The Remains of the Day” is almost immediately notable. When Mr. Farraday sends Mr. Stevens on the road trip, he inevitably fractures the narrative. The road trip is a time for Stevens to reflect, and those reflections, as a standalone yet inextricably linked timeline, inform the future/present. However, the future/present timeline is informing the past timeline as well. Because the reflections are from Stevens’ memory, the reflections of the past themselves must be called into question as fallible. Thus, the non-linear nature of “The Remains of the Day” is such that both timelines independently and inseparably affect one another. Rather than the reflective nature of “Alias Grace,” or the doubling back of “The Marriage Plot,” “The Remains of the Day” exists within two unique continuities. These continuities further propel Stevens into the future, even as he begins and ends in the same place. Without the past, Stevens would not be able to make the choices he does on the road trip – but without the future, there would be no way to rationalize and reinterpret his past.

Monika Gehlawat’s essay “Myth and Mimetic Failure in “The Remains of the Day” explores how Stevens failed to actualize the values and ideals he upholds, both for himself and for others of his profession. Throughout the novel, Stevens presents these values and ideals – most notably: “the most crucial criterion is that the applicant be possessed of a dignity in keeping with his position” (Ishiguro, 33). Over the course of the novel, this dignity is stripped of Stevens, whether by his own hand or by others. The result, Gehlawat argues, is that Stevens will never fulfill his ideals: “Stevens is like the silver he so prizes in his master’s home: he must forever be polishing himself up” (Gehlawat, 12). By doing so, he cements himself as a fallible figure within the novel, further widening the gap between the reality of the past and his retelling.

In “The Remains of the Day,” Kazuo Ishiguro accomplishes what I believe is the best example of non-linear narrative out of the books we read for class. The simultaneous narrative timelines, while distinct, so effortlessly inform one another without sacrificing cohesion and readability. While “Alias Grace” gives us a glimpse into the convoluted nature of Grace Marks’ mind, it does so at the expense of some immersion and accessibility. In “The Marriage Plot,” the nonlinearity informs the respective narrative arcs to draw broader implications throughout the novel of the characters actions, however it is not without its jarring moments. Ishiguro’s novel was the sole novel out of the three wherein the nonlinear narrative decisions did not detract from the story in some way.

The natural inclination of the nonlinear narrative is to be disjointed and difficult to follow – which is why these three novels are so notable. Each of them managed to employ nonlinearity without sacrificing enjoyability. Each unique usage of nonlinearity demonstrated the effectiveness of the form when utilized in the proper context. In “Alias Grace,” the use of nonlinearity heightened both the narrative impact of Grace Marks’ dissociative identity and served as yet another device to de-emphasize the necessity of truth in the novel. In “The Marriage Plot,” the nonlinear approach to overlapping character narratives allowed for more perspectives to be gained without creating bloated scenes or sudden turnarounds. Finally, “The Remains of the Day” utilized nonlinear narrative to effectively interrogate the entirety of Stevens character arc, allowing the reader to gain a better understanding of the totality of his character. Each of these novels effectively accomplished what their authors sought out to convey – the breakdown and absence of truth inherent within reality, the import of character growth and perspective over a presupposed plot, and the complex relationship between the present and the past that informs decisions and ideals, respectively. Each of these outcomes for the novels was aided by the masterful usage of nonlinear narrative arcs in each of the novels.

Regarding the biases that informed the decisions surrounding which novel was the most effective: I would argue that I combined the use of subjective readability and my own experiences with the novels, and an objective lens through which narrative effectiveness could be weighed. My initial choice was Eugenides’ novel, likely because I enjoyed it the most of the three. However, as I reflected, Ishiguro’s novel presented itself as the more airtight and effective novel. “Alias Grace” was not considered as seriously as the other two, simply due to my own difficulty keeping track of the narrative. While it could be argued that it fulfills the role of “most effective nonlinear novel” simply due to its impressive execution, it fell short of the standards by which I weighed them – that is to say, it lacked the cohesion, accessibility, and immersion that the other two novels employed more successfully. The breadth of the article used for “The Remains of the Day” also likely lent itself to my choice – the narrative content I could pull from the novel, with help from the article, assisted in cementing it as the best choice for most effective novel.

Now to tie up the last loose end: the modernist architects who championed “form follows function” failed to consider that such a binary opposition doesn’t hold up – buildings that compromise form cannot fulfill their function as well as those that prioritize both equally. The postmodern novel, or more specifically the nonlinear novel, is the literary actualization of this breakdown. Form and function coexist to amplify the effectiveness of one another, in the same way narrative and character inform one another. The nonlinear aspects compliment the linear aspects of the same narrative, because no narrative examined in this essay (and not many outside it) are fully linear or nonlinear. The breakdown of these binaries allows for novels to be more fully experienced, more soundly written, and finally, more thoroughly enjoyed.

Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace. Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1996.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Marriage Plot. London, Fourth Estate, 2011.

Gehlawat, Monika. “Myth and Mimetic Failure in ‘The Remains of the Day.’” Contemporary Literature, vol. 54, no. 3, 2013, pp. 491–519. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43297920.

Hunt, Lynn. “‘No Longer an Evenly Flowing River’: Time, History, and the Novel.” The American Historical Review, vol. 103, no. 5, 1998, pp. 1517–21. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2649967.

‌Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. London, Faber & Faber, 1989.

Newman, Karen. “Can This Marriage Be Saved: Jane Austen Makes Sense of an Ending.” ELH, vol. 50, no. 4, 1983, pp. 693–710. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2872923.

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