The Storyteller

The short story relies heavily on the structure of an embedded narrative, also called a “story within a story” or a “frame story.” The structure of the embedded narrative allows the author to tell multiple stories in quick succession and imply or draw connections between the inner and outer elements of the “frame” to deepen themes. The story of Bertha and her fate is embedded within the larger context of the story about the children, the aunt, and the bachelor sitting in a train car. This framing allows for the two stories told by the aunt and the bachelor to be juxtaposed with each other—the aunt’s “good girl” versus the bachelor’s “good girl” and their opposite fates. It also allows the reactions of the children within the story to help inform the themes of The Question of Truth and The Point of Goodness.

An allusion is when a story references another work of art or literature to create thematic connections. One brief allusion in “The Story-Teller” is to the song “On the Road to Mandalay.