Structure

“Faith” by Nick Hornby follows a traditional short story structure, having an exposition, a rising action, a climax, a falling action and a resolution. The story revolves around Paul and Sarah, who form a couple, yet who are not happy with their lives. However, their lives change once a football fan named Brian accidentally gets involved.

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Title

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Beginning

The short story begins in media res, in the middle of events, during a dialogue between the main characters Sarah and Paul.

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Middle

The middle of the story contains the rising action which eventually leads to a climax. In the rising action, we find out how Paul and Sarah deal with the presence on their roof of football fan Brian:

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Ending

The falling action of the story presents the lives of the main characters after they break-up: Sarah has fallen in love with another man, while Paul seems to have gotten used to the new situation:

So she moved into a friend’s place, fell in love with the friend’s brother, moved out of the friend’s place and into the friend’s brother’s place, and two months later she was retching stoically into the friend’s brother’s toilet. It is not possible to tell Paul any of this, however, not in a way that would seem cogent or kind. (p. 51, ll. 23-27)

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