Mildred Pierce: Narrative Configuration Of Time

Novels and films have become a major part of our lives in todays age of technology. From a simple pass time to a career, a lot of thought goes behind the narrative configuration of novels and films. Narrative configuration is a technique of telling the story and how the plot is arranged. The novel Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain and and the movie Mildred Pierce produced by Warner Brothers contain the same basic story. However, the two have different ways of telling the story.

Part of narrative configuration is the configuration of time. How are the events organized? The movie is organized achronological, using flashbacks to unfold the plot. The movie opens with the murder of the man we eventually learn is Monty. This sets up the first of a chain of events, and we are made aware of an effect (Monty’s murder), but we are not aware of the cause. This way of
This is considered a loose adaptation. Firstly, the novel focuses a lot on Mildred’s pride. She spends months looking for a job, clinging on to hope because she does not want to settle for a no-skill waitressing or maid job. This says a lot about her character. However, in the movie, she quickly accepts the waitressing job, without even looking around before. While this is not a big change, it does take away some of the pride in Mildred’s character. In the novel, Mildred is also has strong sexual desires. After separating from Bert, she starts up a relationship with Wally and then moves onto Monty and eventually gets back together with Bert. In the film, she ignores Wally’s clear attraction to her, and immediately starts relations with Monty, never getting back with her husband. Furthermore, in the novel, Monty is never shot, as in the film. He runs off to New York with Veda. Although the plot and story unfold differently between the novel and film, the themes remain the same: money, Veda’s greed and arrogance, love, lust and