The Narrative Paradigm: It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

In the movie It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Linus uses storytelling to attempt to persuade his friends to believe in the great pumpkin. He uses elements of Walter Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm in order to make the others wait for the great pumpkin in the pumpkin patch, instead of trick or treating. Linus believes in the great pumpkin, even though his friends are skeptical of his existence. Linus’ sister Lucy is embarrassed that her brother believes in the great pumpkin. Eventually sally, Charlie Brown’s little sister, waits with Linus in the pumpkin patch, but the great pumpkin never visits.

Linus’ story lacks good reasons, or the value of accepting a story as true and worthy of acceptance, according to Fisher. Linus’ story lacks any historical, biographical, or cultural substance. His story only contains character. Unlike Santa Clause who has a rich history, and cultural background, the great pumpkin appears to be Linus’ fabrication, and his friends, especially Charlie Brown who believes in Santa Clause, does not believe the story.

Linus’ attempts to persuade his friends ultimately fails because he lacks narrative rationality and the principles of coherence: structural, material, and characterological.

Linus’ story does not flow smoothly, so it suffers from a lack of structural coherence. According to Fisher, structural coherence is the ability of a narrative to flow smoothly. Linus’ story about the great pumpkin is juvenile and fragmented, so Linus’ friends are not able to fully believe it. He gives a fractured account of a being that resembles Santa Clause, except it is a pumpkin that rises from the pumpkin patch. Linus’ story also lacks material coherence, of the degree of congruence between stories. Linus’ is the only account of the great pumpkin. Because he is the only one who believe in it, the story lacks material coherence; there are no other accounts of the great pumpkin to back up Linus’ story. Linus uses characterological coherence, or the believability of a character in a story, to support his claims about the great pumpkin. He confronts Charlie Brown about his believe in Santa Clause, and says that it is no different than believing in the great pumpkin.

A good persuasive story has fidelity, or truthfulness and reliability. Although Linus believes in the great pumpkin, he can not convince the others that he truly exists. Although Linus builds a good argument by comparing the great pumpkin to Santa Clause, the others remain unconvinced. Sally is the only one who waits with Linus in the pumpkin patch, but only because she is in love with Linus. She eventually becomes frustrated when the great pumpkin does not show up, and laments having missed Halloween while waiting in the pumpkin patch.