Matthew Park
The subtle impact of world building in fantasy stories
Almost every modern day fantasy
reader has read or heard of the Harry Potter series. Imagine if J.K. Rowling
had begun the story from Harry’s perspective at Hogwarts and excluded the
non-wizarding world. Part of the meaningful interaction in the series is the conflict
between muggles and wizards. This dimension of the story would be lost if the
world-building was done differently. Perhaps the Harry Potter stories would
have a different effect on readers as a result of the changes in setting. Because
world-building influences the overall impression given by any work of fantasy,
it is useful to examine differences in world-building within the genre.
Methods of world-building differ
noticeably between the high and low sub-genres of fantasy. World-building in
high fantasy has three forms: a setting with only the secondary fantasy world,
a portal from the first universe to the second, and a world that exists within
the ordinary one. On the other hand, low fantasy pieces feature irrational
events that occur generally in a rational world. However, because some fantasy works
are a culmination of aspects of both sub-genres, they cannot always be
definitively classified by world-building alone. This conclusion can be
examined in though two very different novels: The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
The Last
Unicorn is told from the point of view of a lone unicorn: the last
of its kind to exist in the forests. After leaving her home forest in search of
a mysterious “Red Bull” to find the rest of the unicorns, she encounters new
adventurers that accompany her on the journey. At the very beginning, the story
gives readers the unicorn’s perspective as she listens to two hunters discuss
the extinction of her species.
Prior to the climax of the story,
there is no noticeable distinction between the rational and irrational
worlds--the unicorn’s adventure is contained in a single world, which can be
characteristic of a high fantasy work. Once the protagonists finally arrive at
King Haggard’s castle to find the Red Bull, they have to walk through a clock
to enter the beast’s lair. This description is also very high fantasy in
nature. Likewise, the King’s city, Hagsgate, does not seem like a typical city.
There is a dark energy looming about Hagsgate because of a witch’s curse set
upon the city and the castle. Readers of The
Last Unicorn are expected to embrace far-fetched storytelling because the
world lacks a sense of rationality to begin with.
While The Last
Unicorn is a prime example of high fantasy, Neverwhere features many traits of both subgenres in the way its
world is constructed and presented. The plot involves Richard Mayhew, an
initially mundane character who struggles with the daily challenges of life.
One day, he stumbles upon an injured girl named Door, who he tends to. Later he
finds that he is invisible to all inhabitants of the rational world known as
London Above. Deciding to change his fate, he travels to London Below in search
of Door.
A key aspect
of Neverwhere is the way the
characters interact with the two worlds, which can be explored through
Tolkien’s frame for faerie stories. Fantasy stories must have an escape, a
consolation, and a recovery. Travelling to London Above and Below can be
classified as an escape. At first, the transition from London Above to London
Below seems like Richard’s escape from his boring, ordinary life. After further
examination, it appears that the escape to London Below is more for the
enjoyment and interest of the readers. In fact, the majority of the characters
who start in London Below had no other choice-- they were put there because of
who they are, unable to escape. While the novel seems representative of low
fantasy because of its setting in the realistic, rational city of London,
something more ambiguous is at work. The separation of London Below and Above
blurs the line between high and low fantasy in Neverwhere.
Your post (which doesn't include hyperlinks to your sources, as you were asked to include) does relatively little to explain what makes the world of _The Last Unicorn_ markedly "irrational" (so they walk through the workings of a clock and there's a city with a curse on it -- how is that "irrational" fundamentally?) and nothing at all to consider how the faerie story process relates to it as well as to a work of low fantasy. There's an un-even-ness to your discussion which doesn't allow you to fully explore, or make, your point.
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