Frame Structure

The structure of "Gorilla, My Love" is called a "frame" structure, because the story of Hazel, Granddaddy Vale, Hunca Bubba, and Baby Jason bringing pecans back from the South wraps around the story of the movie theater, as a frame wraps around a picture. The opening scene moves along with no hint that the story is about to move off in another direction. Readers meet the characters through the eyes of the narrator, hear the irritation in her voice, and see the photograph in Hunca Bubba's hand. A movie house in the background of the photo catches the narrator's eye, and she says, "Cause I am a movie freak from way back, even though it do get me in trouble sometime." Even as that line ends, the focus is on the characters in the car.

But the next line begins, "Like when me and Big Brood and...