Deconstructing The Film Stranger Than Fiction Though Narrating

Metafiction and metafictional techniques are utilized in a variety of mediums to help blur out the line between fiction and reality. Metafiction helps create a larger understanding of the film between the audience and can also help add more appeal to the different mediums. In the film, Stranger Than Fiction, the theme is living outside of the box you have created for yourself. The metafictional technique, narrating, conveys out the theme in three unique points throughout the film and are displayed when the main character, Harold Crick, steps out of his comfort zone, breaks his identical daily routine, and when he decides to try new activities in his life. In the film, the protagonist, Harold Crick, meets the woman he falls in love with, Ana Pascal, when he goes to her workplace to audit her. During their first meeting, he realizes that he is falling in love with her. This is shown to the people watching through the metafictional approach, narration.

The narrator, Karren Eiffel, explains Harold’s thoughts and emotions towards Ana in the duration of their first encounter. “It was difficult for Harold to imagine Ms. Pascal as a revolutionary. Her thin arms hoisting protest signs. Her long shapely legs dashing from tear gas. Harold wasn't prone to fantasies and so he tried his best to remain professional. But, of course, failed. ” Throughout the movie, Harold’s feelings for Ana helps structure the theme of stepping outside of the box you have set for yourself as this is something that he would never do because it is not a part of his regular daily routine. The narration done by Karren Eiffel helps Harold understand that he has feelings for Ana and later on this is what helps him build up the courage to ask Ana out. More and more into the film, Harold begins to realize that he is the main character of Karren’s novel and when he learns that his death is fast approaching, he decides to do things he would have in no way carried out before. This is when he starts to accept his feelings towards Ana and decides to leave his comfort zone and ask her out. In the film, this is when he stops Ana at her bakery to bring her flours. When he tells them they are for her, she gets flattered asking if he really carried them all the way to her bakery. “Ms. pascal, I’ve been odd, and I know I’ve been odd and I want you. . . There are so many reasons, just so many influences in my life that are telling me, at times quite literally, that I should come here and bring you these but, but I am doing this because I want you. ”

Although this is not allowed due to Harold’s job, he does not let it interfere him and Ana, especially when he is nearing his own demise. Considering Harold is a very assembled man that follows a strict schedule, this proves that he makes use of what he believes to be his last few days to live the life he's always wanted to live. The film begins with the audience getting greeted by the narrator, who is providing an explanation on who Harold is and what his personality is like. “Harold Crick was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations and remarkably few words. ” According to the narrator, “Every weekday, for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his thirty-two teeth seventy-six times. Thirty-eight times back and forth. Thirty-eight times up and down. Every weekday for twelve years, Harold would tie his tie in a single windsor knot instead of the double thereby saving up to forty-three seconds… Every weekday for twelve years, Harold would run at a rate of nearly fifty-seven steps per block for six blocks, barely catching the 8:17 Kronecker bus. ” This shows that Harold follows a strict schedule every day and does not change the way he does his daily routine, unless change is necessary. Later on into the film, Harold is advised by literature professor, Jules Hilbert, that he is most likely going to be killed off by the narrator, so therefore he should go and live the life he has always wanted to live.

Taking professor Jules’ advice, Harold modifies his lifestyle so he could live the way he has always dreamt of living. This was proven to the audience through metafiction as the reason the audience knew about Harold’s new habits was not due to the fact Harold said it himself, but due to the fact that the narrator told the audience about it when she was writing the book based on his life. “Much had changed for Harold over the past few weeks. His attitude towards work, his habitual counting, his love life. ” Harold stopped counting the amount of strokes he made while brushing his teeth, stopped counting his steps on the way to work, and even started taking turns staying over at his girlfriend’s house instead of going to sleep at precisely 11:13 every night at his own home. This helps grasp the theme of the film because these were various other ways Harold broke out of the box he kept himself in. Harold crick was an IRS auditor. He spent the past twelve years of his life without a single vacation day. That was until he found out he was someone’s main character. When he learned his life was coming to a sudden end, he decided to make a variety of changes and begin to pursue interests into new things. Other than changing his counting habits, and telling the girl he loved he wanted to be with her, he also decided to finally try something he has always wanted to pursue. Learning to play the guitar. “Here Harold stood face to face with his oldest desire. . . It wasn't just about finding a guitar. It was about finding a guitar that said something about Harold”. As this is one of Harold’s interests, he quickly learns how to play some songs, including “Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Eric. His guitar skills were shown in the film when he spends time at Ana’s apartment and she asks him to play. Karren also helps Harold realize that everyone needs a break and after working for years and years continuously, Harold finally decides to take a break, a vacation.

Although his vacation started off rough, Harold used it to gain new knowledge and experiences. During his vacation, he learned the story that was being written about him was not a tragedy but a comedy. This is proven when Harold is at Ana’s home for the first time and the narrator states, “as Ana let out a soft sigh and repositioned herself against him, Harold knew somewhere in his heart that this was one of the significant moments. He knew she was falling in love with him. ” This helps form the theme because if he did not realize he was in a book and was going to get killed off by the author, he would not have finally started to pursue something he genuinely had a passion in doing, as well as realize that he deserves a break too, just like everyone else. The connection between Karren and Harold helps shape the theme of the film because without Karen narrating Harold’s actions in his day to day life, he would not have asked Ana out, stopped following his daily routine, and taken that well deserved vacation. When Harold finally ended up living life the way he should have always been living, he automatically stuck to a better mindset. He stops hating his job, he starts to open up to people instead of keeping to himself, and he also helps shape Karren’s career into something she has never tried before. Overall, narrating is an important metafictional technique that helps shape the theme of living your life out of the box you have set for yourself in the film Stranger Than Fiction.