After looking more in depth at Tzevtan Todorovs article, Structural Analysis of Narrative, I want to go back to the one of the topics of conversation on Monday about Henry James’ idea of a pure narrative and pure dialogue along with the idea that ” a novel is a living thing, all and continuous, like any other organism . . .” After reading the page from Henry James’ essay, The Art of Fiction, I slowly began to understand what he was trying to say.  I think what we as a class began to understand was that James believed that there are many different parts to a story, like an organism, and these parts all collaborate and constantly work together to maintain a state of homeostasis. Todorov believes differently and calls James’ statement a “dubious comparison between a work and a living thing.” Todorov is doubtful of this comparison because he thinks that parts (dialogue and description) of a novel do not necessarily need to exist in a pure state for them to be successful and for them to work as a story. Stories have the capability to be abstract and the success of these stories is not driven only by the fact of the incorporation or removal of pure aspects of a novel.