What is Point of View?:
Here are some definitions that may be useful:
A narrator’s position in relation to the story being told.
The position from which something or someone is observed.
How does this relate to Literature?:
Many stories are often told or narrated by narrators with varying degrees of omniscience. It is important to know how to identify a particular point of view because it gives context to the whole story and will influence its interpretation.
Types of Points-of-View:
There are several points-of-view
1st person in which a character gives their personal account of what happened in the story.
2nd person in which the narrative is told to “you”
3rd person in which the narrator is not a character in the story
They can be limited in which they only follow one character, multiple in which they follow multiple, and omniscient in which the narrator knows everything
Determining which point of view can greatly affect a story and reader’s interpretation.
For example, if you know that a story is told in a first-person perspective then you know that the narrator has limited view on the events and only describes their account. This is different from a third person omniscient narrator. If the same story was told through each perspective the third person perspective could be categorized as more reliable because there is no bias and the narrator knows everything about every character
How can this be applied to A Mercy?:
Here is an example of how different experiences and perspective can impact a story.
“What Sorrow saw yonder in the grass under a hickory tree was not the silent submission to the slow goings behind a pile of wood or a hurried one in a church pew that Sorrow knew. This here female stretched, kicked her heels and whipped her head left, right, to, fro. It was a dancing. Florens rolled and twisted from her back to his. He hoisted her up against the hickory; she bent her head into his shoulder. A dancing. Horizontal one minute, another minute vertical. Sorrow watched until it was over; until, stumbling like tired old people, they dressed themselves. It all ended when the blacksmith grabbed Florens’ hair, yanked her head back to put his mouth on hers. Then they went off in different directions. It amazed her to see that. In all of the goings she knew, no one had ever kissed her mouth. Ever” (128).
Sorrow witnesses Florens and the Blacksmith having sex and was confused by what she saw. In her experience she was raped and all she knew about sex was violence and very negative in her experience. She was confused when Florens was experiencing pleasure because in her experience she did not experience that.
Another example is that every chapter there is a new perspective. With each new perspective, each character his or her own biases and views on the events. In A Mercy each character fills in gaps about the story and gives further insight on other characters.
How can point of view be applied elsewhere? In many conflicts each side believes they are the good guy. No one ever believes they are the bad guy. Being able to analyze point of view can be very enlightening in understanding a story. If you realize that your narrator has a biased point of view, then you can argue that the story that is being told may not be entirely true.
A good way of analyzing perspective is by asking these questions.
· Who is narrating the story?
· Why is the story being told?
· Does the narrator have a limited point of view?
· Is the narrator compromised in any way?
These questions and more are a tool in gaining further insight to stories, not only narrative but other pieces of art as well such as movies and videogames.