Richard Torres

April 12, 2000

Hypertext Critique

Patchwork Story of Stitched Complexity

Patchwork Girl, a hypertext vision sewn together by Shelley Jackson, is a story and an account of the creation of a monster and the relationship the mind has with the monster within the technical boundary of lexia. The monster metaphorically was originally created by Mary Shelley in Frankenstein, but has now resurfaced in a layered identity with an opposing forum of complexity. Jackson has designed her version of the timeless tale from the female perspective by offering the reader not only a facet into the monster’s mind, but that of Mary’s, the girl’s, and of the author’s, which accounts for three female angles of perception. Through each narrative voice (and/or lexia), the reader discovers the psychological nightmare of mental maturity and the pains of achieving the ultimate sense of creativity or life. For Mary it is the obsession of the creation of life and the dedication to keep a promise, while for the girl and the monster it is the aspect of finding the understanding and acceptance in a stitched life. However, for Shelley Jackson the nightmare is the hyper literary challenge of stitching together thought and creation in fictional prose to show the relationship of mother to child or writer to the word by the means of technology.

The Hypertext fiction Patchwork Girl is offered with three primary story lines in lexia story format, which is effectively connected or stitched together to reveal the lives of Mary, Shelley, the girl, and the monster from the creative impulse of the mind’s imagination visually represented in a non-linear string of links. As the reader or in this case user enters the hypertextual world of Shelley Jackson’s words, the initial question, "Where should I begin," comes to mind and is answered with a barrage of navigational passages to venture upon. From the index page (title page) the reader/user can choose either to enter the "journal" lexia, "quilt" lexia, or the "story" lexia, along with the "sources" lexia and the "broken" lexia, which appears to be more of a venting area for the author to express philosophy, non-connective thought, brainstorming, and parallel dynamics of her rendition compared to the original Frankenstein and The Wizard of Oz.

Each door (link) into the cyber-fleshed writing experiment offers its readers a different narrator or line of sight, which twists the reader through their perceptive eye, though at times the point of view streams from first person to third person omniscient midstream of consciousness or shares the first person omniscient narration, which may confuse the reader/user because of the change in narrative voice. "I had made her, writing deep into the night by candlelight, until the tiny black letters blurred into stitches and I began to feel that I was sewing a great quilt, as the old women in town do night after night" ("Written"—Story). This narration shift is evident in the lexias of the "story," where Mary and the girl share narration time, but the lexia is mostly dominated by the new born monster’s narration, which is the focused internal plot of the hypertext domain that follows the girl’s quest for social understanding and knowledge of life.

Once the reader chooses a lexia passage, the enjoyment factor seems to increase, as the category is further unfolded. For example, each lexia domain is initiated with a mapped artwork of a woman misshapen, which serves as a link to the text of the chosen story. Artwork is not a consistence in the hypertext, but proves to be a sufficient landmark for the reader to utilize in order to breadcrumb where they have been or may not have been. For example, Jackson uses the diagram mapping of Phrenology in the domain of the "story."

Primarily, the lexias are text dominant with various links to choose from and navigational procedures to help on the way to capture the hyper-novel’s plot and structure. Though the hypertext is efficiently linked, it proves to possess a life of its own by taking the reader down unintentional paths, which subtly absorb themselves into a linear mold. A reader without notice can be engulfed by the story and not realize the path chosen because of the interchangeability of some lexias in relation to plot progression and coherence. This method of navigation is convenient, however, merely a pebble compared to the rock quarry of mapping designs available to the user.

Jackson intentionally deals her readers a wildcard of external navigational control, but subconsciously pulls the rug of linear comfort from under the tourist the deeper the lexias dwell and link. From the experience of reading the hypertext numerous times, it becomes apparent that the lexias do not take the reader down a path more than once and never the same in route. However, there does appear to be a few complications in the lexia format, which occasionally navigate the user into lexias past.

The repetition of lexias at first glance seems to interrupt the reading process or at least complicate it for a mere click, but in fact the déjà vu sensation can become a beneficial maneuver for a quick linear shift. This prefabricated passage aids the reader in narrative expansion, deeper plot analysis, and unveiling characterization within the hypertext structure. Repetition, more than a mere distraction, reveals the print textuality traits in the assumed new literary media.

The actual words are displayed through the means of a computer monitor, which serves as the outlet of multiple similarities to the traits of oral tradition and adhere to the characteristics existent in print textuality. An obvious example is the episodic nature, which the text appears to the reader. This format of story reproduction follows the essential guideline of oral tradition, where each action pertains to its own episodic entity but adheres to the overall whole of the designed plot structure. Another aspect of oral tradition traits possessed by the hypertext is found in the lexia display of each piece of text. The repetition of lexia renewal with every link activation signifies the presentation technique or delivery technique, which is devoted to the oral tradition or song format structure.

Of course the story is not verbally translated or delivered in comparison to the oral song, but the story appears on the screen through the means of programming translation and instruction. Without the memory retrieval of the program, the text would not appear on the screen for the reader to interpret, which is not unlike the rhyme or metered retrieval of story through song for the singer. Furthermore, without the programming schema-incorporating lexia there would be no episodic linking, and thus there would no mortal word on the screen in relation to the loss of character interconnected structure utilized by the singer to present the song.

Print textuality traits seem to overtake the actual story, though the text is housed by the means of oral song designed with technology. The aspect of characterization blurs many lines, which separate the entities of print textuality and oral song. For example, it is common to find the oral song story to be developed around flat characters of good, evil, gods, heroes, and villains. However, in this hypertext creation the reader will find round characters that could be analyzed as flat characters because of the symbolic nature they possess and represent. This notion is evident when the reader analyzes the character of Mary.

Mary is the creator or, in a sort of way, god. Her character is for the most part psychologically more dominant and intelligent compared to the other main characters in the hypertext. She is the omniscient creator of the story, though instead of purely being the flat character of creator, Jackson decides to give Mary’s characterization a sense of roundness to incorporate the internal and psychic analysis necessary to understand the pain and joy of creating life.

Another firm characteristic of print textuality evident in this form of media lies within the use of the word in sight dominant retrieval and comprehension. The use of the visual mortal word gives this story a sense of print textuality, however, the text is not quite tangible in nature. It is existent on the screen until you link further away and venture into another group of words, but the words are not physically existent to the point of reference. Another feature of the programming of the hypertext, which emphasizes this trait, is the unavailability of the print option of the text. The words are permanently set to the screen and cannot be removed but can merely be reviewed using the mapping options.

The use of mapping options is the only opportunity for the reader to reflect upon the hypertext. An example of this is seen in the use of the history tab, which is offered with every lexia. This mapped reviewing option makes linear understanding possible and evident for the reader. It appears to be the only means of tracing steps taken and the possibility of willingly altering the linear progression of the text, unlike the random linear change mentioned earlier. By possessing this option, the hypertext takes on yet another form of print textuality. That trait lies in the realm of plot structure and linear existence. Most printed text has an order and a given progression, but with hypertext the order is inconsistent, except if the reader takes advantage of the saved reading options and the history tab for reference, which gives the intangible word a sense of structure.

In assessing this new form of literary media, the aspects of relationship and transition from the previous forms of literary media should be analyzed to effectively opinionate on the nature of the hypertext future. According to many of the foundational traits of the literary past, hypertexts offers its readers the same characteristics of oral song and print textuality, which keeps the process familiar to the reader. However, the use of technology introduces various other traits in the field of reading and interpretation, which didn’t previously exist. The aspect of reader control seems to be the only true significant dilemma in this format of story reproduction and delivery. The reader, though assumes to have control over the hypertext, realizes that the aspect of self determined paths is non-existent. A potential benefit of this lies in the fact that most readers, who normally don’t analyze literature to the extent of an English scholar, would not even notice or care about control because of the compelling nature of the story and the visual stimulation that is offered through this media outlet. Books and other printed material do not offer readers visual excitement, except in the mind or imagination corner of the readers thought domain. Oral song can be entertaining, but the aspect of lost dialogue, listening interruption, and poor delivery can defeat the entertaining purpose. When truly viewing hypertext fiction for what it offers in the areas of personal entertainment, literary analysis, and education potential, the only assumed notion concerning the future of hypertext is that it will be here to stay for quite sometime or until something more dynamic comes to take its place. What else can offer its readers or audience a compelling story, visual stimulation, various inter-linked story progression, unlimited path access, complex thematic motives, and unpredictability of discovery. For these reasons alone, it can be assumed that hypertext fiction will intrigue itself into the spectrum of popular culture and with that establish a longevity, which may surpass previous forms of literary media.