63 pages • 2 hours read
The Fury
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Themes
Understanding the World Through Story
Elliot had a difficult childhood and struggles to find his way in the world until he is taken in by Barbara West. Although she doesn’t offer much in the way of mentorship, in her library, Elliot stumbles upon “[a]n elderly, obscure-looking volume, published in the early 1940s. The Techniques of Playwriting, by Mr. Valentine Levy” (127). This text gives him a way to understand the world, even if, in the end, the narrowness of this perspective proves to be his downfall. Elliot uses the principles in Levy’s book as a lens through which to make sense of the world, organize his life, and make decisions.
Elliot uses dramatic storytelling principles to interpret the world and understand himself. As he tells the reader, “I often apply theatrical structure to my own life, you know. I find it extremely helpful. You’d be surprised how often the same rules apply” (127). Much of Levy’s advice revolves around an understanding of the characters as central to story. As Elliot says, “if we ever want to understand ourselves or other people—real or fictional—we must explore our motivation with all the diligence of a Valentine Levy” (128). He uses this understanding to assess his own goals and motivations and extends that understanding to others as well.
Elliot also applies Levy’s understanding to the people in his life. He blames his childhood for the fact that he finds “intimate relationships, emotional or physical, extremely difficult” (27). This difficulty with intimacy and the distance he feels lead to a lack of understanding of others’ characters. Elliot uses Levy’s book, specifically his discussion of character, to help him interpret the actions of others. Levy’s message that “[b]oth theater and reality […] c[o]me down to just three words—motivation; intention; and goal” is fundamental to Elliot’s development of his plan (128).
He also uses Levy’s storytelling principles to make decisions and judge the impact of his actions, as well as justify or rationalize his past decisions. Levy states that characters have only one motivation: to avoid pain. Elliot uses this idea to justify his plan—he tells himself he is doing it because Lana is in pain, claiming that his goal is “[t]o help Lana, of course” (128). However, the truth is that he is doing it for himself—he is motivated not by Lana’s pain but by his own. Elliot’s plan to kill Jason is deeply motivated by his desire for Lana; as he tells the reader, “Lana and I were meant to be together. This was clear to me now. […] This was my destiny” (197). His goal is to avoid pain by keeping his relationship with Lana alive, but he uses Levy’s text to convince himself and the reader otherwise.
Elliot uses Levy’s book, with its dramatic storytelling principles, to organize and understand his life and the people in it. However, seeing the world through this narrow lens is eventually what leads to his downfall; he can’t see the people in his life as anything other than characters in his story. Elliot sees himself as the writer, and thus in control of the story, but as he points out when the plan goes awry, “this is a true story, not a work of fiction. It’s about real people, in a real place” (6). In the end, Elliot’s use of Levy’s storytelling principles to understand the world and make decisions doesn’t account for the difference between story and reality.
The Relationship Between Destiny and Character
Elliot defines the issue of fate as “the central question in any tragedy” (59). He wonders, “What takes precedence—free will or destiny? […] Were we doomed—or was there hope of escape?” (59). Michaelides explores two different perspectives on fate in the novel, probing the idea that fate is driven by one’s sense of character, as well as the idea that fate, or destiny, sometimes takes the decisions out of human hands.
In The Fury, Michaelides explores the idea that, as the Heraclitus states, “[c]haracter is fate” (59). With this opening quote, Michaelides introduces the idea that fate and characterization are intertwined and, further, that character determines fate. Elliot further probes the idea, questioning, “Character or fate? […] I’ll tell you what I think. Having deliberated long and hard, I believe that they are one and the same thing” (59). He takes this idea even further, theorizing that if this is true, then everything that happened did so because of who they all were. This leads him to the question of how character is formed. For Elliot, the answer to these questions lies in his childhood—he sees the abuse and abandonment he experienced as a child as the root of his current self. He reasserts, “Character is fate. Remember that, for later. Remember the kid, too” (62). Because “the kid” is Elliot’s representation of himself and his history, put into third person to distance himself from his trauma, the kid is the key to Elliot’s character and therefore his fate. Through Elliot’s intense examination of the assertion that “character is fate,” Michaelides uses the events of the story to examine the characters and their motivations more closely.
Michaelides complicates this perspective by raising a host of other forces throughout the book, all of which seem to be agents of fate. The wind, Agathi’s crystal, and the villagers’ contention that the island is cursed all undercut the idea that the characters’ fates are determined solely by an archetype or their sense of self. Throughout the novel, Elliot relates events that turn the narrative in new directions that appear to have nothing to do with character. For example, just before Agathi gives Lana the earring found on Jason’s jacket, Lana concludes that her life is perfect as it is. As Elliot says, “It was particularly cruel of fate to select that precise moment—just as Lana reached this epiphany about her life—for Agathi to enter the room” (110). Elliot recognizes fate as playing a part, but not because of character. In addition, when Lana sees Jason and Kate kissing, Elliot observes, “[I]f Lana needed more proof than an earring, then fate had just supplied it” (141). These comments push back against the idea of character as the origin of fate, offering a different idea that attributes blame to outside forces. Michaelides offers convincing explorations of both of these ideas, which, in the end, contribute to the common idea that the murder and events that preceded it as unavoidable.
The Inevitable Fall of the Tragic Hero
In Greek tragedy, the hero is central to the story. The hero, however, is a tragic one: They have a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall. In The Fury, Alex Michaelides explores the concept of the tragic hero through Elliot and Lana. Elliot is the tragic hero of Michaelides’s story, while Lana is the tragic hero of Elliot’s story.
Elliot, as both protagonist and narrator, assumes the position of tragic hero in Michaelides’s novel. His fatal flaw is his narrow perspective of the world and people around him. He makes a drastic plan to achieve his goal of possessing Lana, but that plan depends on everyone involved following the script that he has written. Elliot’s limited understanding of the other characters and his insistence on treating them as if they don’t have personal autonomy leads to tragic results for both Elliot and Lana. Elliot, however, doesn’t see himself as the hero of the story. At the beginning of Chapter 9, Elliot says, “If I were the hero of this tale, instead of Lana, I would start the narrative right here—with Lana banging on my door at eleven thirty at night” (127). To Elliot, Lana is the hero of his story, and her tragic flaw leads to her death.
Elliot points out that “Lana [is] deeply romantic. […] with romantic dreams—fairy tale visions of escape, and stardom; and most important, love” (113). It is this characteristic, Elliot believes, that leads to Lana’s downfall. Lana’s sense of deep betrayal, and her insistence on staying with Jason in spite of it, is what fuels her desire for revenge. The characters she played in the movies “would face [their] destiny without flinching and go down fighting. She [is] everything you want in a hero” (10). This other side of Lana, the true side, is the one that conceives of the plan to counter Elliot’s plan. This true nature of Lana’s, which Elliot didn’t understand, is the one that wants revenge on him, the one who is stung by betrayal, and the one who conceives and executes the plan.
By framing the story through Elliot’s perspective, Michaelides is able to explore the concept of the tragic hero through two characters, rather than just one. Elliot’s tragic downfall in Michaelides’s story and Lana’s tragic downfall in Elliot’s story both explore Greek tragedy conventions through the concept of the tragic hero.
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By Alex Michaelides
