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:
Lucy says goodbye to life as she knows it on a small Caribbean island in order to take a babysitting job for a family in the U.S. Although we don't see anything of her life back in the Caribbean at the beginning of the story, we later learn that she was dying to get away from her strict mother and become her own person.
The Journey:
We hate to disappoint you, but we may as well admit that this journey isn't one that's filled with slaying dragons or searching for buried treasure. Instead, Lucy's quest is all about a more modest goal of succeeding at her new job and creating a life for herself in the U.S. While her journey may not sound as tough or exciting as the ones with dragons and treasure, it turns out to be lively and challenging just the same due to Lucy's interactions with characters of vastly different cultural backgrounds than hers.
Arrival and Frustration:
Lucy succeeds in becoming a valuable part of the family she works for. The rugrats adore her and she becomes a confidante to their mother Mariah, who is basically a mess given that her marriage is falling apart. But Lucy's frustration rears its ugly head as she comes to realize that she wants to be more independent and she can't accomplish that while she's still living and working with this family.
The Final Ordeals:
After she goes through the tough experience of finding out that her father has died, Lucy bites the bullet and quits her babysitting job, much to Mariah's dismay.
The Goal:
Yay: Lucy achieves her goal of independence, as she moves into her new apartment with Peggy and starts a brand new job. However, achieving this goal doesn't mean her life is rosy. She faces the fact that she's still not happy and starts looking toward her next quest (maybe that one will have dragons and buried treasure).