Fog by Blanche Colton Williams
Williams’s study of “Fog” examines how its framing action, supernatural inner narrative, and satirical opening affect the reader’s sense that the tale has grown naturally rather than been constructed. She compares the effect of the prelude and closing material with other named stories, considering whether the outer workaday setting heightens the fragile central narrative. The analysis maps the plot from Andy’s early visions through the discovery of Hope Salisbury’s picture and the final appearance of the Lucky Star. It asks where suspense begins, whether Andy’s strangeness makes events seem inevitable, and whether the ending permits hallucination or an objective ghost ship. Williams also assigns a rewriting exercise in objective narration and considers how Stiles must be characterized through the story he tells.
By Blanche Colton Williams · First published 1919 · Genre: Literary Analysis, Literary Criticism, Non-Fiction · 784 words
First lines
GENERAL. The first sentence in "Fog" serves two purposes. 1. It thrusts satirically at the commercializing of the short story. 2. It induces the reader to believe the inner narrative is a growth, not a construction. The author seems to have hesitated between leaving the supernatural story as one beautiful enough to stand alone, and building about it the humorous and even cynical external action. Or it may be that he saw best to set off the fragile inner narrative with the hard facts of a workaday world. Without the prelude to the story (which begins with "He was born a thousand miles from deep water") and without the sentences after the asterisks on page 73, the narrative recalls "The Brushwood Boy. " And this is true, despite the rather homely dialect. If, however, the reader is duly influenced by the parts referred to, he cannot but recall Thomas Bailey Aldrich's "Struggle for Life," as a prototype.
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Genres
- Literary Analysis — Breaks the studied story into framing devices, plot stages, climaxes, suspense, and interpretive ambiguity.
- Literary Criticism — Evaluates the effects of the external action, supernatural material, characterization, and related literary models.
- Non-Fiction — Presents instructional commentary and writing exercises rather than narrative fiction.
Tags
Fog · Blanche Colton Williams · short-story study · frame narrative · supernatural ambiguity · plot stages · dramatic climax · suspense · objective method · Stiles as narrator · Andy · Hope Salisbury
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Fog is listed on Textopian as an essay by Blanche Colton Williams, dated 1919 CE.
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- Work type: Essay
- Author: Blanche Colton Williams
- Date: 1919 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Literary Analysis, Literary Criticism, Non-Fiction
- Length: 784 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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