The Grey
Structuralism and The Grey
You might think that the literary movement of structuralism only applies to literature such as novels and poetry but you might be surprised to see that it is applicable to almost any form of art, specifically Joe Carnahan’s film, The Grey. The Grey is a film that captures the dangers a man faces while trying to survive out in the wilderness after narrowly escaping death in a deadly plane crash with six other men. All the while, being hunted by wolves. Throughout this essay I will examine the film as a whole by breaking down the “langue”(Parker 46) and “parole”(Parker 46) as well applying literary terms from Structuralism like “narratology”(Parker 66), “binary opposition”(Parker 45), “focalization”(Prker 71) and “Embedding”(Parker 69) to help you better understand the relationship between scenes and the overall structure of the film. Before we can understand the pieces that shape the film as a whole, we must first understand the literary terms being used within the context of this essay. The …show more content…
There are scenes throughout the film depicting Ottway lying in bed with a woman who we can acknowledge as his wife. Ottway never talks to any of the other supporting characters about her, but he seems to always be thinking of her in secrecy. “Theres not a second goes by where I’m not thinking of you in some way. I want to see your face, feel your hands in mine. Feel you against me. I know that will never be. You left me and I can’t get you back…”(The Grey). Here is an example of the inner monologue within the first flashback Ottway has. It is clear that he misses her, but it is unclear what happened to her. The “embedding”(Parker 69) of this instance within the narrative creates a “binary opposition”(Parker 45) that compares the struggles of Ottway’s past with the struggles he faces in the
You might think that the literary movement of structuralism only applies to literature such as novels and poetry but you might be surprised to see that it is applicable to almost any form of art, specifically Joe Carnahan’s film, The Grey. The Grey is a film that captures the dangers a man faces while trying to survive out in the wilderness after narrowly escaping death in a deadly plane crash with six other men. All the while, being hunted by wolves. Throughout this essay I will examine the film as a whole by breaking down the “langue”(Parker 46) and “parole”(Parker 46) as well applying literary terms from Structuralism like “narratology”(Parker 66), “binary opposition”(Parker 45), “focalization”(Prker 71) and “Embedding”(Parker 69) to help you better understand the relationship between scenes and the overall structure of the film. Before we can understand the pieces that shape the film as a whole, we must first understand the literary terms being used within the context of this essay. The …show more content…
There are scenes throughout the film depicting Ottway lying in bed with a woman who we can acknowledge as his wife. Ottway never talks to any of the other supporting characters about her, but he seems to always be thinking of her in secrecy. “Theres not a second goes by where I’m not thinking of you in some way. I want to see your face, feel your hands in mine. Feel you against me. I know that will never be. You left me and I can’t get you back…”(The Grey). Here is an example of the inner monologue within the first flashback Ottway has. It is clear that he misses her, but it is unclear what happened to her. The “embedding”(Parker 69) of this instance within the narrative creates a “binary opposition”(Parker 45) that compares the struggles of Ottway’s past with the struggles he faces in the