作者：吴其佳
　　【Abstract】This study focuses on one of Alice Munro’s best-known stories：“Tricks”， and attempts to explore it by adopting a structuralist approach， applying Tzvetan Todorov’s schema of proposition and Northrop Frye’s theory of mythoi in order to find out the narrative grammar in this story and analyze its contribution to the theme. The result is that the story presents a “seek-find-lose” structure and a juxtaposition of the structure of tragedy and the structure of irony. Through these structures， the story was gradually unfolded and it presents a main idea：many people in modern society live a life of “escape”.
　　【Key words】Tricks； structuralist approach； seek-find-lose； tragedy； irony； escape
　　Ⅰ. Introduction
　　Being considered as one of the greatest contemporary writers of fiction， Alice Munro is no doubt a marvelous story-teller. One important feature of her novels is that nothing runs smoothly， for what is displayed in her fiction is usually “a deceptively simple surface”（Skagert， 2008）. Also， her stories are so well-organized that the structure itself never failed catching readers’ eyes， such is the case with “Tricks”， which is one of the 8 stories in her famous book Runaway. By adopting a non-linear narration， the author successfully keeps us in suspense：she constantly casts riddles and then deliberately leads us to the answers. Aside from this “riddle-answer” structure， the story presents a “seek-find-lose” structure and a juxtaposition of the structure of tragedy and irony. Through them， characters’ experiences are described， and a main idea is covered：escaping from life seem to be inevitable for many people in modern society.
　　Ⅱ. The Seek-find-lose grammar and expect-embrace-escape grammar
　　According to Tzvetan Todorov’s schema of proposition， when we read a story， we try to discover how the text is structured by the pattern of relations among the recurring actions and attributes associated with particular characters （Tyson， 1950）. In “Tricks”， the pattern of seek-find-lose can be found. The main plot of this story’s seek-find-lose formula is the experiences of its protagonist， Robin. As she seeks， finds and loses her love， she actually seeks， finds and loses the chance of living a new life. Robin takes love as the key to the door of a new life， but both are lost to her. Besides， the narrative of Robin provides the formula on which the narrative of Daniel is unfolded. Daniel faces the similar life condition with Robin：Robin has to takes her disabled sister Joanne；Daniel has to help his deaf-mute brother Alexander. Both of them are confined to their family environment. If going to Stratford to see Shakespeare’s play is a way of seeking comfort and relaxation for Robin， walking dog along the river might do Daniel the same good. Given the health condition of Alexander， “IQ never determined…no training in sign language…outrageous”， it’s surely a hard task for Daniel to deal with him. Obviously， lasting patience and proper method are necessary and much time should be invested. Therefore， Daniel also expects a new life， a life with vigor and interest， and a romantic relationship might satisfy this modest demand. Thus Robin is like a gift from God and he wants to grasp this grace. The appointment is entrusted with his expectation. However， he hasn’t seen Robin on that very day. His dream shattered and his quest failed.