“It’s heavy!…What is it?”
“The uh…stuff that dreams are made of”

“The Maltese Falcon” (1941)

THE MACGUFFIN

If you’ve studied creative writing or filmmaking in any decent capacity, then you’ve probably come across this term at least once in your life.

The MacGuffin.

But what is it? Where does it come from? What does it mean? Let’s find out…

The term was coined by screenwriter, and Alfred Hitchcock collaborator, Angus MacPhail sometime in the 1930s, meaning that the term “MacGuffin” has now been in use for nearly 100 years, across plays, novels, TV shows, and films. It pops up in all kinds of adaptations, and all sorts of storylines. It is not central to any specific type of genre, and can be found in almost anything, from adventure to mystery, action to spy-thrillers.

But what is a “MacGuffin”?

A “MacGuffin”, as defined by Alfred Hitchcock himself, was…

“…the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story…”

That is to say – it is a plot-device. An element of the story that drives the narrative forward, and which is the focus of the attention of all the main characters – the one thing that they’re chasing after during some (if not all) of the film.

As Hitchcock said:

“…in [criminal] stories it is almost always the necklace and in spy stories it is almost always the papers…”

A MacGuffin is something which drives the narrative (and characters) forward, but which, in-and-of-itself, holds no real significance, and which loses more and more of that significance the further the story progresses, whereupon, by the end of the narrative, the MacGuffin has become (or very nearly becomes) completely irrelevant. Indeed, the MacGuffin could even be destroyed (and some MacGuffins are) at, or near the end of the film or novel, and this doesn’t even effect the plot, since, as mentioned – the MacGuffin has been of decreasing significance to the plot since the moment of its introduction.

The true test of a MacGuffin is whether it passes this test of insignificance. If the MacGuffin could be replaced by something totally different, and if it could be destroyed or changed, without affecting the plot of the story itself, it is a MacGuffin.

Once you understand this definition, it’s amazing how many MacGuffins you will find in all kinds of filmic and literary creations. Famous examples of MacGuffins include the Horcruxes, or the Philosopher’s Stone from “Harry Potter“, the Ring from “Lord of the Rings“, the Necklace from “Titanic“, the Letters of Transit in “Casablanca“, the stolen money in “PSYCHO“, the unopened parcel in “Castaway“, and countless other examples, far too numerous to mention.

At the beginning of each story, these items (or even people, or other things – a MacGuffin isn’t necessarily an object) all sound frightfully important, and all the main characters want these items, but by the end of it all…they’ve lost all significance…and if you replaced them with something else, or even if you destroyed them, the basic plot of the story wouldn’t have changed one bit.

For all we care, Frodo could’ve been trying to burn a donut in Mount Doom, and the plot of the story would not have changed, because the end-result is the same. Therefore, the Ring is a MacGuffin.

This brings up another Hitchcock quote:

“…a MacGuffin is actually nothing at all…”

Which is true – a MacGuffin could be anything, and nothing, all at once. All that matters is that the characters in the film or novel WANT IT!! (my prrreeecious!!), that it drives the plot forward, that it becomes insignificant, and keeps you, the audience, guessing. Not because you want to know what it is (some of the best MacGuffins are never revealed – for example – we’re never shown what’s inside the briefcase in “Pulp Fiction”), but because you want to see what happens next in the character-arcs and plot development as they chase the MacGuffin.

Where Does “MacGuffin” come From?

The very word “MacGuffin” is, in a way, a MacGuffin itself. We don’t know what it is, nor what it means, where it comes from, or what it signifies. The term is most closely associated with famed thriller director Alfred Hitchcock, but while he used it often in his films, he did not originate the term, crediting his friend McPhail. McPhail is the first-known person to use the word “MacGuffin”, but it is not recorded when, where, or how this came to be. And, in the sense of a true MacGuffin, it’s not really significant, since even if we changed the origins, how a MacGuffin is used today is still exactly the same as it was back in the 40s and 50s when Hitchcock was using it.

A more recent example of a MacGuffin in modern times is the elusive “Rabbit’s Foot” in Mission Impossible III. They spend the whole film chasing after it, but by the end of the film, whatever it really was has lost all significance to the plot. On top of that, none of the characters even know what it is, or really, why it’s important. They just know that they have to have it. It is a MacGuffin.

Possibly the most famous “MacGuffin” in history, and one which beautifully illustrates just exactly what a MacGuffin is, is the black falcon statuette from the 1941 film “The Maltese Falcon“.

All the characters are desperately seeking the statuette, to attain it, to save it, protect it, to grow rich off of it…whatever their motivations may be…but when they finally attain it, they realise that actually, it’s nothing more than a worthless knockoff! A forgery made of lead, and has thusly, lost all significance to the characters, while the quest for the Falcon has driven the entire film. At this stage, you realise that the Falcon could’ve been anything at all, and the basic plot of the film would not have changed. Again – they could’ve been chasing a donut…