What Remains of Edith Finch
Edith Finch is a first-person exploration game that takes place in and around the long-abandoned Finch family home. What remains behind are rooms full of artifacts, by which the player enters into the death experience of lost family members. The family stories nest together as one plays through the game, eventually filling in a larger story of the family's hauntings and apparent curse.
Day 1
Getting ready to play
Ask students to download the game before class. They should come with headphones and the device they will use to play (PC/Mac or iPhone for most, Switch for others; note that the game is also available on Playstation and XBox for students who wish to play at home, or for equipped classrooms). The game will take most students about 2 or 2.5 hrs to complete.
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In preparation for Day 1, students should watch and take notes on "What is Gothic?" at home. Ask them to make a list of examples of Gothic narrative, in any medium (that is, Dracula could be a novel, a movie, a poem, a TV series, etc.)
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Class time (60 mins)
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(20 mins) Ask students to share examples of Gothic narrative that students brought in from their exercise at home. What elements of Gothic are present in these examples? How would we decide the difference between Gothic works and others that are merely scary, or horror?
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(40 mins) Get started on the game! Let them know as they begin that this game doesn't feature enemies and obstacles in the way most games do. Instead, the player is looking for clues everywhere, passing through the old Finch house.
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Homework (45 mins)
Ask students to finish first half of the game (through Walter’s story, and to the graveyard scene up to dialogue lines: “I never met grandpa Sam, but I think he and my mom had a lot in common”). They should complete the study questions below and be prepared to defend their answers in class:
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Throughout the first part of the game, the player enters multiple frame narratives to experience death through other Finches' eyes. What do these narratives share, despite numerous differences?
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How does frame narrative in an interactive, first-person game like Edith Finch differ from those that appear in literary and cinematic Gothic? Do the differences feel significant? Why/why not?
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What do the “shrines” about different characters' deaths, along with their decorated gravestones, say about the Finch family's complicated relationship between legacy and death? How does this tie into their “curse”?
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Day 2
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Class time (60 mins)
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(20 mins) In small groups, build a Finch family tree with the characters you have met so far, and a timeline of the deaths you know about.
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(15 mins) Discussion based on study questions.
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(25 mins) Continue gameplay
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Homework (45 mins)
Finish the game. Students should write informal answers to the questions below, in order to be prepared for the final class.
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Many of the Finch deaths we experience involve highly imaginative, childlike narration (Calvin, Gus, Gregory, and even Lewis). Given that the deaths are not described by the Finches who have died, but rather by an outside perspective, how do you interpret this childlike twist?
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Now that we’ve explored the entire house, connect the Finch property and story to common Gothic tropes. Would you include this game among other “full” contemporary Gothic pieces like The Haunting of Hill House and Beetlejuice?
Day 3​
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Class time (60 mins)
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(30 mins) In the same small groups from last meeting, build the rest of the Finch family tree and timeline of deaths. Afterwards, compare trees and timelines on the board.
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(30 mins) Discussion of study questions and the final stretch of the game (especially the ending).
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CRITICAL REFLECTION
As we saw in the video that kicked off Edith Finch, the term "Gothic" refers to stories that take place in old, often ramshackle manors, castles, and ruins. These old buildings typically include mysterious passages and hidden rooms, letters or other clues hidden away in bureaus or closets, mysterious keys, peculiar sounds, spooky portraits, etc. Usually, the Gothic main character discovers deeper, often scary or macabre, truths by putting together clues hidden below the surface. Behind the bookshelf is a room, and in that room is a bed, and under the bed are your new husband's former brides' bones! Something like that.
Clearly, Edith Finch relies on Gothic conventions: each story, with its sealed off room, includes artifacts that continue to haunt the present and allow the player to enter a version of the deceased's death. For this short critical analysis, analyze one character's story and space. What does this single story contribute to the game's overall Gothic narrative, including Finch family lore? How does the structure of frame narrative contribute to the lack of certainty around the family curse, and even of Edith's reliability as a narrator?
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Aim for 500–700 words. Be specific when you refer to characters and game episodes.