A Secret Sorrow

A Secret Sorrow and “A Sorrowful Woman” are given as examples of formula fiction vs. literary fiction. What characteristics of A Secret Sorrow make it “formula fiction” and what characteristics of “A Sorrowful Woman” make it “literary fiction”?

In popular culture, formula fiction is literature in which the storylines and plots have been reused to the extent that the narratives are predictable. It is similar to genre fiction, which identifies a number of specific settings that are frequently reused. The short story, “A Secret Sorrow,” does not relate to formula fiction until about half-way during the reading. I could not predict why she did not want to get married nor tell Kai why she was seeing a doctor and why did she have another referral. When Faye finally disclosed that she couldn’t have any kids and that is why she did not want to marry him, made it easier for me as a reader to predict what was to come next. I knew that later she would have kids and make a family together, even if there not her own.

Literary fiction is a term principally used for certain fictional works that hold literary merit. In other words, they are works that offer deliberate commentary on larger social issues, political issues, or focus on the individual to explore some part of the human condition. Literary fiction is deliberately written in dialogue with existing works created with the above aims in mind. Literary fiction is focused more on themes than on plot. The story, “A Sorrowful Woman,” relates to literary fiction by focusing on the individual and explores some parts of the human condition. In this case they focused on the wife that now has some sort of condition and cannot stand to look at nor interact with her child. This means that now the husband will have to take on both roles as a parent while his wife gets to a better condition before she can start to parent again. In the end she gained back her strength and started back doing her motherly and wifely duties and the...