Narrative Equilibrium - Tzvetan Todorov (Blog Post 7)

 

5)

Proppian characters: 

    The hero- Ethan Matthew Hunt

    The helper- Benji Dunn

    The helper- Agent Luther

    The helper- William Brandt

Equilibrium: Ethan and the other agents are trying to get onto a moving plane in order to get an important package and remove it from the plane.

Disruption: While Ethan was hanging onto the plane as it took off, Benji takes a very long time trying to open the door so Ethan can get inside. Then, Benji opens the wrong door which causes it to take even more time for Ethan to get inside as he's hanging on.

New equilibrium: After Ethan was able to successfully get inside of the plane, an antagonist goes to the back of the plane to investigate why the door opened and to shut it. The antagonist discovers Ethan holding onto the important package, and then Ethan gets away with the package. 

In Media Res: The film begins during an action scene, instead of beginning with an introductory and slowly building the action or suspense. 

Multiperspective narratives: The film constantly switches points of view between Ethan (The hero), Benji (The helper), and Luther (Another helper). This shows the importance of the roles of each person in order to attain the package.

6. 

    The theory of Equilibrium can be applied to this film in order to establish a set order of narrative. This can be shown through the equilibrium being the mission that Ethan and his fellow agents are on, the disequilibrium of Benji taking forever to open the correct door, and the new equilibrium of Ethan being noticed while on the plane, so he had to escape off the place (literally jumping out) with the important package. It is shown that the Todorov's theory of equilibrium was used to establish a set order of narrative, using the correct order to do so.