Jordan Foster Piers Plowman Blog
I grew up indulging in mystery stories such as the Scooby-Doo chapter books, Encyclopedia Brown, and the Goosebumps series, among many other books and comics. My present understanding of what a mystery is, based on what I have learned through Batman comic books, Sherlock Holmes, and the readings of this class thus far, has not changed really as much as it has matured. I definitely agree with Auden's points on what makes a mystery story, but that does not mean that there can't be exceptions.
A mystery story consists of a protagonist that has an innate ability to solve puzzles and uses this ability to break down a crime into many different parts so that they he or she can piece them together in his or her own unique way, so that it makes sense. A crime story consists of, well, a crime and the ability, or inability, to catch, convict, and/ or punish the culprit(s). Now a mystery story can definitely differ from a mystery in a story, as this is a vague notion. Is the mystery that is "in" the story mysterious to the characters in the story or the audience? Is it meant to be solves by one of the two parties? Is an aspect of the story a mystery to some, but not all, of the characters? I think these questions make it easier to see how Piers Plowman fits the description of the course, as there is not necessarily a crime that happens, but some of the characters could be considered "in mysterious circumstances," such as the man that is dreaming, or even just flat out "mysterious" themselves.
It is all about the perspective on what a "mystery story" consists of. To compare it to art, many people nowadays scoff at "modern art" and say things like,"How is the flushing mechanism of a toilet that you maybe melted a little and drew on with a lime-green Sharpie considered art?" But the majority of society's opinion cannot make something factual as long as at least one person truly believes otherwise. In this case, Piers Plowman can be viewed as the melted toilet-flusher of the mystery story world.
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ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the "melted-toilet flusher," this may not fit into the traditional sense of a mystery story, and as far as I'm concerned isn't even a mystery story. But I guess this might have a mystery inside the story, and that's what this class is called so I guess that's what we get.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely bring up some interesting questions that I haven't considered. I have also read many mystery stories in my childhood, and I agree that Auden's definition is too narrow to encompass every mystery story. Your comparison to art and melted toilet-flushers was completely unexpected, but I believe you are correct in that Piers Plowman can be considered a mystery story given the right perspective.
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