Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : The Quest
The Call
Since we have several narrative threads in this work, we also have more than one call to take a spiritual or physical journey—and they happen in a variety of moments in the text. Worry not, though, we're going to break them all down for you.
The narrator receives the call to poetry when he is with Antigone (his ex-love) and he hears "a hollow moan exhaled from a vase." He gets another push from the ghost of his father, who appears twice—first, to encourage him to give voice to his silent ancestors, and then to send him off to travel the world. Thanks, Dad.
Achille receives a supernatural "invitation"—okay, he's kind of kidnapped—from the sea-swift who pulls his canoe across space and time to arrive at the African settlement of his ancestors. Major Plunkett is pulled across the Atlantic in the opposite direction, obeying his need for peace by settling with Maud on the island. He is also drawn to research and write about St. Lucia by Helen's beauty and his lack of an heir.
Ma Kilman gets her summons from a line of ants in the woods that speak to her in the tongue of her ancestors and awaken the knowledge inside her to find the medicinal plant necessary to cure Philoctete of his everlasting wound.
The moral of the story is this: Whether it's the ghost of a father or a line of ants, when the call comes in, our characters answer.
The Journey
As with calls, we're dealing with multiple journeys. But again—fear not, we're going to break them down for you.
Achille makes a sunstroke-induced journey to the land of his ancestors and dwells among them, learning his true name and the language and ways of his people. Yay. Walcott travels the world (and sometimes back home to St. Lucia) in his quest for characters, inspiration, and understanding of the suffering he's planning to write about.
Although Hector doesn't receive a call to do so (in the strictest sense), he does step away from his fisherman's life to take up transport driving, thus literally propelling himself all over the island in the hope of finding a new life. Meanwhile, Plunkett makes his way around the island, drawing his own maps and diagrams, double-checking facts, digging through trash, and making wild analogies in his search for meaning and fulfillment.
In other words, when it comes to the journey, some of our characters are traveling through space and time, while others are kind of going in circles. So it goes with journeys, we suppose.
Arrival and Frustration
Achille dwells in this phase a little longer than the other characters. First, he arrives in the African settlement and has to confront his own ignorance and ambivalence. He's also homesick, though he is "home," and misses his ocean. Achille knows what will befall his people, but despite his best efforts, he cannot stop their enslavement and subsequent centuries of suffering. Once he returns to St. Lucia, he finds that "progress" is quickly destroying his life and the land. It's a rough run for this guy, for sure.
Hector finds that his new career does not suit him: He misses the ocean and the spirituality it inspired in him. Oops. Major Plunkett faces the difficulty of composing history and sorting through his passions in the process. In the course of his travels, he learns of the ill-fated Midshipman Plunkett and feels that he has reached the end of his work.
Walcott finds that his travels tucker him out, since everywhere he goes harbors the histories of either captives or captors (and sometimes both). His journey home forces him to confront a changing landscape and a dying mother with a deteriorating memory. We'd prefer a nap, too—seems way easier and less emotionally heavy.
The Final Ordeals
Major Plunkett loses his wife, Maud; Achille has to look for new seas if he wants to maintain his traditional fishing life—all while avoiding the tourists who think his existence is quaint; Hector dies on the road while avoiding a randomly wandering piglet; Walcott gets a trip to hell with Omeros/Seven Seas as his guide and sees what fate awaits him if his attitude doesn't change; Ma Kilman exerts her skills to brew a new concoction for Philoctete.
Right about now, it looks like there's no rest for the weary, doesn't it? Hang in there, though…
The Goal
Ah yes, the goal. Three cheers for finally reaching the end point, right? Plunkett learns to live without Maud—though he talks to her, listens to her, and sees her during this time. He also finds a way to become more relaxed and more at one with the people of the island so they can all have a simpatico relationship.
Helen comes back to Achille and the two are a loving couple, preparing for the arrival of the child (Hector's) that Helen is carrying. Achille more fully embraces his African ancestry, though Helen is not on board with that yet. Philoctete is healed and can officially re-join Achille on the sea.
After his mini-holiday in hell (j/k—that trip seems terrible), Walcott has a new perspective on his love life and his craft, and prays to develop the inner vision that belongs to all true poets.