The picaresque novel depicts, in realistic and often humorous detail, the advent ures of a roguish hero of low

social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt so ciety. Seven qualities distinguish the picaresque novel or narrative form, all or some of which may be employed for effect by the author. (1) A picaresque narrative is usually written in first person as an autobiograph ical account. (2) The main character is often of low character or social class. He or she gets by with wit and rarely deigns to hold a job. (3) There is no plot . The story is told in a series of loosely connected adventures or episodes. (4) There is little if any character development in the main character. Once a pica ro, always a picaro. His or her circumstances may change but rarely result in a change of heart. (5) The picaro's story is told with a plainness of language or realism. (6) Satire might sometimes be a prominent element. (7) The behavior of a picaresque hero or heroine stops just short of criminality. Carefree or immora l rascality positions the picaresque hero as a sympathetic outsider, untouched b y the false rules of society. examples Bukowski...Basho-hermit,bhuddistpoet. Maldoror. Petronious-satyricon. Henry Mill er-tropic of cancer.Ulysses? Didn't I say a rogue, a con man? What's the King of Ithaca doing in there? I did say a picaro lives by his wits, though, and Ulysses does just barely, someti mes, and many of his crew are not so lucky. The Wizard of Oz, Lord of the Rings. Gullivers Travels. Cyrano de Bergerac. Huck eleberry Finn, The Odyssey, The Good Soldier Svejk, Tom Jones, Don Quixote, and Candide. They give scope for a great deal of adventure and excitement, and also laid the ground work for many, many television series. canterbury tales. Roussel. Characters and situation(s). Dicken's first six novel s. Gogol-dead souls. plot Actually, you can start with a dozen or so little stories episodes and make an epic. If you do, let's call it "episodic structure" or "epic structure." But it won 't be picaresque without a picaro Their structure is journey-and-return Frodo leaving the Shire, going through a ser ies of hair-raising adventures, then coming home to cleanse the shire and settle down in peace and contentment. Variations on the structure are many and various for example, Hollywood calls th em "Road Movies," "Westerns," and "Travelogues," but they all have those essential elements: Get 'em out on the road, have them visit one exotic location after an other, end by having them confront a monster (sometimes human), and send them ho me

How can a rogue be a hero? Let's take a closer look. Don Quixote isn't a crook just the opposite. He's a ho peful hero who goes little crazy (dotty) by reading all those romances the medieva

l term for an epic adventure. He may lose, he may not be a trickster, but he li ves by his addled wits, somehow surviving, and in the process, giving us a good look at La Mancha and the people who live in it. Huck Finn does much the same. He's really a good-natured, laid-back kid, not a scoundrel or rogue but in the eyes of the other villagers, he's the town's "bad bo y," enough so that Tom Sawyer is told not to talk with him. The town sees him a s a juvenile delinquent, partly because his father is so unsavory. He would be quite content to leave the world alone if it left him alone. It won't, of cours e now and then he has to leave the raft for necessities such as food. As he drift s through America's heartland, he gives us a look at ourselves and our culture, and doesn't always find it pleasant. That's the strength of the Picaresque story: giving us a chance to look at ours elves without outright condemnation, and maybe even a sort of provisional accept ance accepting ourselves on the condition that we try to correct the wrongs that M ark Twain has shown us. In the process, the form gives us great opportunities f or humor; it lends itself very easily to satire.