[Structural narratology], contrary to popular opinion, can in fact have a direct link to the fabula. The reader of mystery fiction can actually solve the case before the detective by critical application of the theory. Intuitive following of shape and pattern, keen observation of the universal laws of beauty, will reveal the murderer. Never deductive logic. Do not spend your precious literary time sniffing around for motivation. It does not exist. Not on the page. Not off the page. Solve the chalked-out shape committed by the writer. Return to your great-grandfather Poe and his friend Dupin: think like a murderer; that is, think like a writer. Auden tells us: “Murder is negative creation, and every murderer is therefore the rebel who claims the right to be omnipotent. His pathos is his refusal to suffer.” Please finish the Levi-Strauss for next week. I hate to, but I will quiz you.
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