Leslie Karst

A MacGuffin By Any Other Name…

I was talking with someone at Malice Domestic a couple weeks back about the use of MacGuffins in mystery novels and films and afterwards got curious about the origin of the term—and the literary device, itself.

So down the research rabbit hole I went.

First, I wondered, what exactly is a “MacGuffin”?

Basically, it’s an object, person, or secret in a story that drives the plot and motivates characters, but is generally irrelevant in and of itself. The audience rarely cares about the object per se; they’re far more interested in the chase, and they may very well never even learn the true nature of the item or what eventually comes of it.

Probably the most famous example of a MacGuffin is the Maltese falcon statuette in the book and movie of the same name. The black bird isn’t particularly important to the actual story, but it’s what drives the characters to act as they do.

Here I am with the Maltese falcon award I received last February for being Toastmaster at Left Coast Crime: California Schemin’:

Other examples are the $40 grand that drives the plot of Hitchcock’s 39 Steps, the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, or the ark of the covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Substitute any other valuable or desirable object and the story would remain essentially the same. George Lucas once even said that R2-D2 in the original Star Wars movie was essentially just a MacGuffin.

And if you go farther back in time, other MacGuffins include the golden fleece of Greek mythology.

some folks are more interested in the soccer score than the golden fleece

And also the Holy Grail in the Arthurian cycle: a desired object essential to initiate and advance the plot, but the final disposition of which is never revealed, suggesting that the grail itself is of little significance.

So, where did the term “MacGuffin” come from?

It was apparently first coined by the the screenwriter/script doctor Angus MacPhail, and it has been suggested that “guff,” meaning anything trivial or worthless, may lie at the word’s root. (I’m guessing the first part of the word came from his own name)

But it was Alfred Hitchcock, with whom MacPhail worked, who popularized the term, frequently referring to devices in his and others’ films as “MacGuffins.” He explained its use with the story of two men on a train: One asks about a package in the rack; the other calls it a “MacGuffin” for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands. When told there are no lions there, the response is, “Well then, that’s no MacGuffin!”—meaning the object is effectively nothing.

Personally, I think MacGuffin would be a great name for a Golden Retriever, don’t you?

Readers: What are some of your favorite MacGuffins in books or movies?

29 thoughts on “A MacGuffin By Any Other Name…”

  1. Yes, it WOULD be a good name for a Golden! Or even a chocolate lab. Thanks for the origin of the word. I know I’ve read that somewhere, but it must have been many years ago.

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  2. I had two thoughts almost immediately when reading this. If I think classic movies, one of my favorites is Casablanca, so the letters of transit in that movie. Moving forward in time, the BB gun in A Christmas Story also came to mind.

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  7. I once got into an argument with a know-it-all roommate I had about MacGuffins. He insisted they were the false clues and suspects that kept people from figuring out who the killer is in a mystery. I tried to explain that was a red herring. But he told me, nope, he got it from his film prof, and a red herring was the thing that drives the story. I tried explaining that he had those two terms mixed up, but he told me I was completely wrong.

    Needless to say, I wasn’t at all sorry when he moved out.

    Anyway, it’s been too long since I’ve seen the movie, but I’m going to say the treasure they are seeking (that leads to them stealing the Declaration of Independence) in National Treasure. Yes, even with it being in the name.

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    1. Oy, that must have been frustrating–and annoying! I’m glad he moved out, too, and I never even met the guy. And hey, the Maltese falcon is in the name too, as is the ark in the Indiana Jones movie.

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  8. Um…I have to admit, I still don’t get it. To me, a lot of those items are essential to the plots and not really easily interchangeable. Like, the Ark of the Covenant was supposed to house the physical tablet of the 10 Commandments and the power of God, so it had a strong moral implication for the setting/time of the movie–to defeat evil/the Nazis. Or, at least the characters may have viewed it that way? And if R2D2 was just a generic thing, why is he so beloved by viewers that he appears in some form in so many Star Wars movies? (And why am I arguing with George Lucas, ha?) The Holy Grail of knightly legend was the chalice used at the Last Supper, so wouldn’t that be a high holy goal item for a quest of those times? Could a regular wooden cup retrieved from castle trash fill in? (Am I totally hopeless?) But I do have a golden retriever. I think I’d be more likely to name him McGruff instead of MacGuffin, because clearly I understand the McGruff idea better ha.

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    1. The MacGuffins are always important to those chasing/searching for them, but as far as the audience is concerned, they could be switched out for other things (equally important to those chasing them), with no change in the plot. The ark, for instance, could have been the holy grail, and vice versa.

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      1. Ohhh…!!! Okay, I understand better now. Thanks, Leslie! I still see the ark with its connection to the Commandments (thou shall not…) as being more lasered toward the Nazis (and you must not open the ark, either), but then… this sort of ridiculous overthinking is why I don’t finish my mss. fast enough, ha!! Now if the raven were a vulture or a blue jay…

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  9. This post is no MacGuffin! I’m going to start sprinkling that phrase into everyday language. Seriously, though, thank you for sharing this rabbit hole with us!

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