Point of View

Chapter 5

“Once upon a time…” Narrated the story by describing characters

when necessary, telling what the characters thought and felt and did, and interjecting comments and ideas of their own

Primitive Storytellers

Artistically more self-conscious Decide upon a method of telling the story or

discover one while writing May tell the story themselves May let a character tell it May tell it through a series of letters of diary

entries May confine themselves to the thoughts of one

character

Modern Fiction Writers

Who tells the story?

and

How does it get told?

How much is this person allowed to know?

Point of View

1. Omniscient 2. Third-person limited

Major character Minor character

3. First person Major character Minor character

4. Objective

Points of View

Told by a third-person narrator whose knowledge is unlimited Free to go wherever he/she wishes, to peer inside hearts and

minds of characters at will Can interpret behavior and comment on the significance of

his or her story May shift from one character’s dominant thoughts to more

omniscience in information none of the characters know Most flexible point of view and permits the widest scope (but

also the most subject to abuse—narrator may come between readers and the story or shifting may cause incoherence or disunity and destroy the reality the story tries to create)

Omniscient

Weary in every limb, the ant tugged over the snow a piece

of corn he had stored up last summer. It would taste mighty good at dinner tonight.

A grasshopper, cold and hungry, looked on. Finally he could bear it no longer. "Please, friend ant, may I have a bite of corn?"

"What were you doing all last summer?" asked the ant. He looked the grasshopper up and down. He knew its kind.

"I sang from dawn till dark," replied the grasshopper, happily unaware of what was coming next.

"Well," said the ant, hardly bothering to conceal his contempt, "since you sang all summer, you can dance all winter.“

He who idles when he’s young will have nothing when he’s old.

Omniscient

The story is told in third person but from the viewpoint

of one character This character serves as the filter through whose eyes

and mind writers look at events; readers never leave their side

No direct knowledge of what other characters are thinking or feeling (except for inferences)

May be a major or minor character, a participant or observer

Example: “Interpreter of Maladies” from Mr. Kapasi’s perspective but in third person

Closer to real life perspective than omniscient

Third-Person Limited

Weary in every limb, the ant tugged over the snow a

piece of corn he had stored up last summer. It would taste mighty good at dinner tonight. It was then that he noticed the grasshopper, looking cold and pinched.

"Please, friend ant, may I have a bite of corn?" asked the grasshopper.

He looked the grasshopper up and down. "What were you doing all last summer?" he asked. He knew its kind.

"I sang from dawn till dark," replied the grasshopper."Well," said the ant, hardly bothering to conceal his contempt, "since you sang all summer, you can dance all winter.“

Third-Person Limited

Presents the apparently random thoughts

going through a character’s head within a certain period of time

Mingles memory and present experiences Employs transitional links that are

psychological rather than strictly logical

Sometimes a first-person narration may use stream of consciousness, but this is rare

Stream of Consciousness

Author disappears into one of the characters, who tells the

story in first person Remember, in fiction, the author is not the same as the

narrator! May be a major or minor character, protagonist or observer

Significant difference if narrator is the protagonist Shares the virtues and limitations of third-person limited;

gains immediacy and reality from the story is from a participant but offers no opportunity for direct interpretation by the author

Offers opportunities for dramatic irony and studies in the limits of human perceptiveness

First Person

Cold and hungry, I watched the ant tugging over the

snow a piece of corn he had stored up last summer. My feelers twitched, and I was conscious of a tic in my left hind leg. Finally, I could bear it no longer. "Please, friend ant,” I asked, “may I have a bite of corn?"

He looked me up and down. "What were you doing all last summer?" he asked, rather too smugly it seemed to me.

"I sang from dawn till dark," I said innocently, remembering the happy times.

"Well," he said, with a priggish sneer, "since you sang all summer, you can dance all winter.“

First Person

Narrator disappears into a kind of roving

sound camera that can go anywhere but only records what is seen and heard

No commentary, interpretation, or entering a character’s mind

Also called “dramatic point of view” Readers must infer what characters think or

feel; author/narrator does not explain Purest example is a story in dialogue

Objective

The ant tugged over the snow a piece of corn he had

stored up last summer, perspiring in spite of the cold.A grasshopper, his feelers twitching and with a tic in his

left hind leg, looked on for some time. Finally, he asked, “Please, friend ant, may I have a bite of corn?" asked the grasshopper.

The ant looked the grasshopper up and down. "What were you doing all last summer?" he snapped.

"I sang from dawn till dark," replied the grasshopper, not changing his tone.

"Well," said the ant, and a faint smile crept into his face, "since you sang all summer, you can dance all winter.“

Objective

Authors choose the point of view that enables them to

present their particular materials most effectively in terms of their purposes

Readers should ask How does the narrator’s mind and personality affect the

interpretation? (Is the character perceptive or imperceptive? Can the interpretation be accepted at face value or discounted because of ignorance, stupidity, or self-deception?)

Has the writer chosen the point of view for maximum revelation of the material or for another reason? (Does concealing certain information until the end create suspense? Does it deliberately mislead readers?)

Has the author used the selected point of view fairly and consistently? (If there are shifts, why?)

Point of View