CHARACTERISTICS OF SHORT STORY:
»Chekhov is of opinion that;
“A short story should have neither beginning nor end, he believes that the purpose of the short story is to present suggestively a slice of life.”
Major characteristics of short stories:
All of us clearly know what a short story is. In my opinion a short story is a story that is short. As professor Methews says “The aim of the short stories is to produce the single narrative effect.” To produce this single narrative effect the writer has to select not the whole plot but the most significant and critical moment of a skill and exploit that moment from the beginning to the end. Every sentence of the writer should further the single narrative effect he wants to produce.
- Followings are the chief elements of the short story that form its structure.
(1) PLOT
Plot is logical arrangement of events or the entire sequence of events. The plot can be considered as the backbone of a short story. The plot should have a proper beginning, middle and an end. The story’s plot should be straightforward. It should never be complex. There should only be a single plot no sub-plot. There are five essential components of a plot.:
A. Exposition:
Exposition is the beginning of the short story, where the characters and the setting is revealed.
B. Rising Action:
This is where the events in the short story become complicated and the Conflict in the short is revealed.
C. Conflict:
Conflict is essential to plot. Without conflict there is no plot. The conflict of forces links events together and drives the plot forward in the short story. There may be only one central struggle in the conflict.
There are two Types of conflict. (1)Internal Conflict and
(2) External Conflict.
D. Climax:
This is the climax and pivotal moment of the story. The readers are wonders what will happened next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
E. Falling Action:
The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader understands what happens next and whether the conflict was resolved or not.
F.Denouement:
This is the final outcome, where the events in the story are untangled.
(2) CHARACTER:
There is another element of short story which is ‘character’. Character itself has two meaning ;
A) The individual in a work of fiction:
Antagonist and protagonist. Short stories use few characters. One character plays a central role in the story, with all major events being significant to them – they are the protagonist. The opposer of the main character is called Antagonist.
(B) The characteristic of a person:
Here, the other meaning of the characteristics of a Antagonist or Protagonist or other minor characters. Whether he is good or bad. What he or she thinks or feels. What other say about him or her etc.
(3) THEME:
Generally the theme of a short story is taken from a life. Life has very wast to provide material to the writer. The writer of a short story selects significant details from the life and adds flash and blood to the skeleton of a story. Theme may be an event or an experience of writer. Theme may be real or imaginary. The real incidents include the contemporary problems of the society, world as well as the human emotions like jealousy, hatred, sorrow, happiness etc. In the modern short story tye writer does not introduce any external events but only the inner working of mind. Here the writer uses stream of consciousness technique.
(4) SETTING:
All short stories be characters of aime type or the other and take place in some location or place. The place or the location of a short story is its setting. There are several aspects of a story setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story. They are as following:
A. Place:
What is the geographical location where the story’s action takes place?
B. Time:
When is the story taking place (Historical Period, time, death, years etc)
C. Whether:
What are the conditions like – is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc.?
D. Social conditions:
What is the daily life of the character? Does the story include local color (writing that highlights speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc.) Of a perticular place
(5) MOOD OR ATMOSPHERE:
Atmosphere is the mood of the story. It is the emotional colouring given to the story by number of details including the setting. It is an integral part of plot, theme, character and so on. The choice of words, style of writing, the way the character talk and walk are part of atmosphere.
(6) DIALOGUE:
Dialogue is the life blood of a story. Dialogue helps the writer in creating realism and achieving highest dramatic intensity to capture the attention of the reader. It is a useful method of revealing character and developing plot. Dialogue should be simple, brief and easy to the point.
(7) POINT OF VIEW:
The point of view means the way of a story told. The author may tell the story;
1. As a third person watching as an outsider.
2. As one of the characters telling story. In the first person.
3. As a mixed narrative/Multiple point of view where the narration changes from the first person to the third person.
Then there is the omniscient point of view where the author knows what goes on in the mind of every character. He can move from character to character. Event to event and he introduces information where and when he choses.
CONCLUSION
In short story, the above mentioned characteristics reveal that short story is one of the important forms of literature and in a modern time it is becoming more popular with the writer as well as the readers.
