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
Since this is a collection of short stories, we're going to analyze the plot of just one story. Check out this analysis of "The Bell-Tower" below.
Dream Stage
The architect Bannadonna decides he wants to build the biggest, baddest Bell Tower around. No bell will ring like his bell will ring. This he swears.
Frustration Stage
All is well until, whoops, Bannadonna kills one of his bell makers by hitting him in the head with a ladle. A bit of the ladle falls into the bell smelter, creating a flaw—a tragic flaw.
Nightmare Stage
The mysterious shrouded figure is spooky…and yep it's spooky. That's what Melville has for a nightmare here, folks. It's not vampires, but it'll have to do.
Destruction
The mechanical automaton kills Bannadonna, the bell cracks at his funeral, the tower falls in a year. Moral: don't build a big bell tower. Avoid that, and you're good.