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 : Tragedy
Anticipation Stage
Elizabeth Bates, our heroine, has a simple enough goal: She just wants her family to come home for dinner in a timely way. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so . . . Even though the workday at the nearby mine has just ended, her collier husband, Walter, is nowhere to be found . . .
Dream Stage
Despite being peeved about her husband's absence, Elizabeth carries on with dinner. She attempts to convince herself (and the kids) that everything is okay, comforting them with the assurance that he's just out getting so blotto that he'll have to be carried home. Um, great?
Frustration Stage
Elizabeth's brave face fails after the kids go to bed, however, and she goes to ask the neighbors if they have seen Walter. They haven't. One of the neighbors, Mr. Rigley, offers to go look elsewhere for him. Elizabeth returns home to wait.
Nightmare Stage
Elizabeth's mother-in-law shows up saying that Walter had been injured. Rigley had shown up at her house to deliver that news and asked that she go sit with Elizabeth. As far as the MIL knows, Walter is still alive. Needless to say, she and Elizabeth are wigging out.
Destruction or Death Wish Stage
Unfortunately, it turns out that Walter is dead—apparently, the ceiling came down on him in the mine, sealing him in there so long that he asphyxiated. The doctor, the pit manager, and another miner bring the body back to the Bateses' house. Annie, the daughter, wakes up for part of the commotion, and Elizabeth has to get her back to sleep. Then Elizabeth and her mother-in-law bathe the body while Elizabeth (who, by the way is pregnant) contemplates the future—and the end of her relationship with Walter.