Summary of Pan's Labyrinth: How is narrative used to portray the message?

Pan's Labyrinth is a film which juxtaposes the theme of a child's fairytale against the violent Fascist Spanish Civil War. Del Toro explained that this film is a 'fairytale for a grown-up'. He said that he wanted to create something as dangerous and scary as the real war.
Arguably, the film does not incorporate a Classic Hollywood Narrative. Although the film does incorporate several aspects of cause and effect (such as when Ofelia takes the grape, this results in her being chased and almost eaten by the Pale Man. Or when the man cannot finish his sentence due to his stutter, result in his death.) The film also has a beginning middle and end, however the character's psychological motivations, for example Vidal's hatred is not clearly conveyed. There is clear opposition and conflict in the film as this is what drives the narrative, however we see this through many different aspects. For example, the Faun's quests and Ofelia; the toad/pale man. And the general themes of the Spanish Civil War.
Another reason why Pan's is not a Classic Hollywood narrative could be the fact that it does not have a 3 act structure. For example, Torodov's Equilibrium theory, in my opinion, does not apply here. At the beginning and end of the film there is conflict, at no one point in the film is there an element of resolution. The film ends and begins with Ofelia's death, stating the circular structure of the narrative, and hinting that this will occur to many other children.

It is possible that Del Toro has followed the rules of Propp's character types, incorporating a dark macabre theme into a fairytale because he wanted to convey the severity of the Spanish Civil war and it's effects on children. Because Ofelia is a child, enrapt in her own fairytale like hallucinations, this is the main aspect of the film, without this the film would be pretty straight forward and dull, therefore Ofelia's hallucinations (the main aspect of the narrative) convey the effects of war on children; that this girl is obviously harmed by the danger and violence of her surroundings, that she has become tangled into her own hallucinations to escape the reality of the Spanish Civil War.
Children are the future of society, therefore it is possible that Toro has decided to use a child because of this, this portrays how war damages the future of society. Toro may have also used a girl because stereotypically, girls represent innocence and purity, what goes on in her mind juxtaposes this.
The narrative of the film ends and begins with Ofelia's death, resulting in a circular structure. This may have been used to portray another message of the film; that the result of the film is most likely to keep on happening to other children.
Because the film does not follow the classic Hollywood narrative, this may help to portray the message of the film and help to convey the real effects of war. Because the film does not follow Classic Hollywood Narrative is makes the film strangely more realistic once the audience realises that the fairy tale aspects of the film are hallucinations rather than actually there.