【4.1】 POINT OF VIEW:THE NARRATIVE VOICE A story must have a plot,character,and setting.It must also have a storyteller:a narrative voice,real or implied,that presents the story to the reader.When we talk about narrative voice,we are talking about point of view,the method of narration that determines the position,or angel of vision,from which the story is told.The nature of the relationship between the narrator and the story,the teller and the tale,is always crucial to the art of fiction.It governs the reader's access to the story and determines just how much he can know at any given moment about what is taking place.So crucial is point of view that,once having been chosen,it will color and shape the way in which everything else is presented and perceives,including plot,characters,and setting.Alter or change the point of view,and you alter and change the story Various Points Of View First Person The choice of point of view is the choice of who is to tell the story,who talks to the reader.Perhaps the first choice might be,"let the protagonist tell his or her own story."In making this choice,the author decides to employ the first person point of view,as in the following opening paragraph of James Baldwin's Sunny Blues. I read about it in the paper,in the subway,on my way to work.I read it,and I couldn't believe it,and I read it again.Then perhaps I stared at it,at the newsprint spelling out his name,spelling out the story.I stared at it in the swinging lights of the subway car,and in the faces and bodies of the people,and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside. In selecting such a vantage point to present the action,the writer enjoys a number of advantages.First,he creates an immediate sense of reality.Because we are listening to the testimony of someone who was present at the events described,we are
【4.1】 POINT OF VIEW: THE NARRATIVE VOICE A story must have a plot, character, and setting. It must also have a storyteller: a narrative voice, real or implied, that presents the story to the reader. When we talk about narrative voice, we are talking about point of view, the method of narration that determines the position, or angel of vision, from which the story is told. The nature of the relationship between the narrator and the story, the teller and the tale, is always crucial to the art of fiction. It governs the reader’s access to the story and determines just how much he can know at any given moment about what is taking place. So crucial is point of view that, once having been chosen, it will color and shape the way in which everything else is presented and perceives, including plot, characters, and setting. Alter or change the point of view, and you alter and change the story Various Points Of View First Person The choice of point of view is the choice of who is to tell the story, who talks to the reader. Perhaps the first choice might be, “let the protagonist tell his or her own story.” In making this choice, the author decides to employ the first person point of view, as in the following opening paragraph of James Baldwin’s Sunny Blues. I read about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. I read it, and I couldn’t believe it, and I read it again. Then perhaps I stared at it, at the newsprint spelling out his name, spelling out the story. I stared at it in the swinging lights of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside. In selecting such a vantage point to present the action, the writer enjoys a number of advantages. First, he creates an immediate sense of reality. Because we are listening to the testimony of someone who was present at the events described, we are
inclined to trust the narrator and to enter into the experience.Second,the writer has a ready-made principle of selection.No story can tell everything there is to tell.The writer must make choices.A story told in the first person is necessarily limited to what the narrator has seen,heard,or surmised. The difficulties of first-person point of view may only strike us when we try to write stories ourselves.For example,the narrator must be present at all the essential events,or the author must invent a way of supplying the information.This can lead to the contrivances we have all come across in our reading of fiction---overheard conversations,letters opened by mistake---that strain credibility.Coincidences occur in fiction as in life,but the writer who relies too heavily on coincidence to extricate the hero from the conflict risks losing the reader's faith First-person point of view presents yet another difficulty.Ordinarily,we expect that the narrator should be a good judge of character and be reasonably gifted with words. A stupid or inarticulate narrator seems a contradiction in terms.But what of the storyteller who is dishonest or is deluded by other characters in the story?Should such a storyteller be barred from the role of narrator?Not always.A gifted writer may create some of the most telling effects when the reader grasps the truth that a narrator is deceitful or fails to understand the implications of his own tale In trying to avoid some of the problems inherent in his first-person point of view, the author may elect to have a minor character tell the major character's story,like the Reverend in Mark Twain's Luck(cf.P.180). This method turns the narrator into a historian,reconstructing the events after the fact.Such stories maintain a strong illusion of reality,and perhaps some heroes are set off to advantage if seen from a certain distance. Second Person Although a second person narration(in which the narrator tells a listener what he or she has done,using the "you"personal pronoun)is possible,it is rare because in effect the second person actually requires a first-person voice.The viewpoint requires also that the listener be the character who lived through the narration.Thus a parent
inclined to trust the narrator and to enter into the experience. Second, the writer has a ready-made principle of selection. No story can tell everything there is to tell. The writer must make choices. A story told in the first person is necessarily limited to what the narrator has seen, heard, or surmised. The difficulties of first-person point of view may only strike us when we try to write stories ourselves. For example, the narrator must be present at all the essential events, or the author must invent a way of supplying the information. This can lead to the contrivances we have all come across in our reading of fiction---overheard conversations, letters opened by mistake---that strain credibility. Coincidences occur in fiction as in life, but the writer who relies too heavily on coincidence to extricate the hero from the conflict risks losing the reader’s faith. First-person point of view presents yet another difficulty. Ordinarily, we expect that the narrator should be a good judge of character and be reasonably gifted with words. A stupid or inarticulate narrator seems a contradiction in terms. But what of the storyteller who is dishonest or is deluded by other characters in the story? Should such a storyteller be barred from the role of narrator? Not always. A gifted writer may create some of the most telling effects when the reader grasps the truth that a narrator is deceitful or fails to understand the implications of his own tale. In trying to avoid some of the problems inherent in his first-person point of view, the author may elect to have a minor character tell the major character’s story, like the Reverend in Mark Twain’s Luck (cf. P. 180). This method turns the narrator into a historian, reconstructing the events after the fact. Such stories maintain a strong illusion of reality, and perhaps some heroes are set off to advantage if seen from a certain distance. Second Person Although a second person narration (in which the narrator tells a listener what he or she has done, using the “you” personal pronoun) is possible, it is rare because in effect the second person actually requires a first-person voice. The viewpoint requires also that the listener be the character who lived through the narration. Thus a parent
might be telling a child what the child did during infancy,for which the child has no memory.Or a doctor might tell a patient with amnesia about what occurred during the time when the memory was gone,or a lawyer may present a story of crime directly to the accused criminal by way of accusation.In practice,the second person point of view is of only passing use in most fiction,and it is so rarely used that it is almost negligible.A.A.Milne uses it for a time at the beginning of the children's story Winnie the Pooh,but drops it as soon as the events of Pooh Bear and the rest of the animals get under way. Third Person If the narrator is not introduced as a character,and if everything in the work is described in the third person (that is,he,she,it,they),the author is using the third-person point of view.There are three variants:omniscient,limited omniscient, and objective or dramatic. Authors may at times feel the need for greater scope than first-person point of view affords.They wish to be the all-knowing narrator,not limited by time,place,or character,but free to roam and comment at will.Such a point of view is called third-person omniscient.The narrator,evidently the author,sees all,knows all,and, presumably,tells all.In this collection,Stephen Crane's The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky(cf.P.6)illustrates third-person point if view. While the omniscient point of view might seem at first glance the most flexible and functional,the author who adopts it pays a price.The reader may very well feel remote from the action.Certainly the reader will not as easily identify with the protagonist.The author who does not wish to sacrifice omniscience but who still hopes for greater reader identification with the protagonist may elect to tell the story from the limited-omniscient point of view.Although continuing to write in the third person,the author limits himself or herself to what is known by one character.John Steinbeck uses the limited omniscient point of view with notable success in The Chrysanthemums(cf.P.189) One further method of telling the story should be mentioned here---the objective
might be telling a child what the child did during infancy, for which the child has no memory. Or a doctor might tell a patient with amnesia about what occurred during the time when the memory was gone, or a lawyer may present a story of crime directly to the accused criminal by way of accusation. In practice, the second person point of view is of only passing use in most fiction, and it is so rarely used that it is almost negligible. A. A. Milne uses it for a time at the beginning of the children’s story Winnie the Pooh, but drops it as soon as the events of Pooh Bear and the rest of the animals get under way. Third Person If the narrator is not introduced as a character, and if everything in the work is described in the third person (that is, he, she, it, they), the author is using the third-person point of view. There are three variants: omniscient, limited omniscient, and objective or dramatic. Authors may at times feel the need for greater scope than first-person point of view affords. They wish to be the all-knowing narrator, not limited by time, place, or character, but free to roam and comment at will. Such a point of view is called third-person omniscient. The narrator, evidently the author, sees all, knows all, and, presumably, tells all. In this collection, Stephen Crane’s The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky (cf. P. 6) illustrates third-person point if view. While the omniscient point of view might seem at first glance the most flexible and functional, the author who adopts it pays a price. The reader may very well feel remote from the action. Certainly the reader will not as easily identify with the protagonist. The author who does not wish to sacrifice omniscience but who still hopes for greater reader identification with the protagonist may elect to tell the story from the limited-omniscient point of view. Although continuing to write in the third person, the author limits himself or herself to what is known by one character. John Steinbeck uses the limited omniscient point of view with notable success in The Chrysanthemums (cf. P. 189) One further method of telling the story should be mentioned here---the objective
point of view.In this technique the author,like a camera,records in the third person what is taking place,but does not enter into the minds of the characters.The action is played out before the reader without authorial comment.Such a method makes great demands on the reader,but at the same time promises great rewards,since it offers us a great share in the creative process.Many of earnest Hemingway's stories are superb examples of the objective point of view,and none is better than the one of Hills Like White Elephants. Mingling Points of View In most of stories,there is a mingling of viewpoints.Hence a point of view may be limited omniscient when focused on the thoughts of a major character,but dramatic when focused on the actions and dialogue.The writer may tell most of the story in one type of point of view but then shift at an important point for the purpose of sustaining interest or creating suspense.For example,Thurber in The Catbird Seat(cf. P.86)ends his limited omniscient disclosure of the thoughts of Erwin Martin when Martin develops his plan in the apartment of Mrs.Barrows.After this point Thurder uses the dramatic point of view so that the reader will not know the plan until it had been fully enacted
point of view. In this technique the author, like a camera, records in the third person what is taking place, but does not enter into the minds of the characters. The action is played out before the reader without authorial comment. Such a method makes great demands on the reader, but at the same time promises great rewards, since it offers us a great share in the creative process. Many of earnest Hemingway’s stories are superb examples of the objective point of view, and none is better than the one of Hills Like White Elephants. Mingling Points of View In most of stories, there is a mingling of viewpoints. Hence a point of view may be limited omniscient when focused on the thoughts of a major character, but dramatic when focused on the actions and dialogue. The writer may tell most of the story in one type of point of view but then shift at an important point for the purpose of sustaining interest or creating suspense. For example, Thurber in The Catbird Seat (cf. P. 86) ends his limited omniscient disclosure of the thoughts of Erwin Martin when Martin develops his plan in the apartment of Mrs. Barrows. After this point Thurder uses the dramatic point of view so that the reader will not know the plan until it had been fully enacted
