Standpoint of the Narrator: The importance of consistency in literary point of view
“There are no objective or value-free standpoints: everyone is situated, and will see things from that context and with that perspective.” - John Lye, Brock University
Every fiction story has a narrator. It is a literary device that allows information to be filtered from the storyteller to the reader. Somewhere in between the narrator and the reader, are the author and the characters. Each participant—author, narrator, characters, reader—has their own role to fulfill. This is an important distinction. As a novice writer I used to have difficulties distinguishing the author from the narrator, a common mistake. This comes from the fact that in nonfiction, the author and narrator are actually one and the same. But in fiction they cannot be the same or it would simply be memoir.
Narration as a literary device is most commonly considered as it relates to point of view. In every story the author must choose the point of view from which the story is told. It is an important decision because the point of view can vastly alter a story. Choose the wrong (or ineffective) point of view, and the story could fall flat. Choose the right (or most effective) point of view, and the story could be an epic tale.
When considered in their most basic forms, the three points of view are:
First Person - I/We
Second Person - You
Third Person - He/She/They
Within each form, point of view becomes more complex. First person includes “direct” and “detached” narration. Second person, which is the most uncommon point of view in fiction, can be a reference to someone specific, can be a reference to the reader, or can be an attempt to make the reader into a character. Finally, third person is generally considered as a spectrum defined by distance. The narrator can be omniscient, or god-like, or the narrator can be limited, or observational, like a fly on the wall.
These are just the basics of narration. But, rather than analyze each point of view, its rules, and its benefits and drawbacks, I would like to consider something John Lye calls the orientation or standpoint of the narrator.
Most literary critics agree that no matter what point of view is used to convey a story, the most important element is consistency. That is, from the opening sentence to the final paragraph the narrator must maintain the same point of view or else it becomes disruptive to the reader and damaging to the story. Any unannounced shift in point of view pulls the reader from the fictional dream. Consistency keeps the reader engaged. And, though it is important to point of view, it is just as important as it relates to the standpoint of the narrator.
What do I mean by standpoint? The standpoint of the narrator is a committed point of time and judgement from which the narrator speaks. Narrators, like their authors, are not objective. They are subjective based on their standpoint.
This can be confusing because in most third-person narratives, the standpoint of the narrator is never overtly revealed. Rather, the narrator only exists as a function of the author’s imagination. And, if done well, the reader does not see or think of who or what the narrator is. But, if the author makes a mistake, the importance of consistency regarding the standpoint of the narrator becomes apparent.
What I argue, then, is that before writing a narrative the author must choose a standpoint for their narrator even if that standpoint is never revealed to the reader. For instance, if the author chooses the year 1965 as the narrator’s temporal standpoint, then at no point can the narrator make reference to the moon landing, or, something happening right now like the Coronavirus. The narrator can only have the information available in 1965. If the author makes a mistake, and mentions something post-1965, that is jarring to the reader and disruptive to their experience.
A simpler example might be a historical novel set in the middle ages. If, at the outset, the narrator has an old-English accent and provides details through the prism of the medieval period, but then suddenly mentions the state of Missouri, it becomes extremely problematic.
The same can be true for the narrator’s value judgements. Whether overtly revealed or not, the author must know and establish the principles and values of the narrator. Does, for example, the narrator exist in the contemporary world with contemporary viewpoints, or is the narrator speaking from a place that is less enlightened? This is very important when writing about racial presumptions in the past. The narrator must know and stay consistent with their value judgements no matter what their characters may think, feel, or say. To make a mistake in this manner confuses readers and leads them to question the values of the author her/himself and/or the characters.
Therefore, regardless of what point of view a story is told, the author must choose the standpoint from which the narrator speaks. The author does not need to tell the reader, but must know it in their own mind in order to maintain consistency of voice, information, and subjectivity.
Writing Exercise:
Write a story about a ten year old boy who goes to the carnival with his older brother. While attending the carnival, the boy enters the house of mirrors with his brother. But, he loses sight of his brother and gets lost in the house of mirrors. He panics before being discovered by an old Carny with missing teeth and a limp. He is then reunited with his brother who is waiting for him outside.
Write the story from the boy’s perspective in the first-person as it is happening. Then, write it in the boy’s perspective in hindsight as a forty year-old man. Finally, write it in third-person using the brother as the narrator looking back on the event thirty years afterword.
As you write, notice how the story shifts and changes. Most importantly, notice the importance of knowing who and what your narrator is and maintaining consistency in your writing.
Writing Exercise:
Write a short story about the Battle of Gettysburg from the third-person point of view. Imagine your narrator is a freed slave writing on April 16, 1865, the day after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Write the story again, now imagining your narrator is the grandson of the original narrator telling the story in 1920.
Write the story again, now imagining your narrator is the great, great, great grandson of the original narrator writing in 2010.
Use third-person limited omniscience to tell the story and do not reveal to the reader who the narrator is. Notice the minor shifts in voice and information with a shift in the standpoint of the narrator.
Sources:
Alice LaPlante, “the making of a story”: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007).
John Lye, “Narrative Points of View: Some Considerations,” Mr. Bowering’s Homework Page, Accessed 30 March, 2020, https://sites.google.com/site/cpssbowering/critical-reading/narrative-points-of-view.
Ivdit Diasamidze, “Point of View in Narrative Discourse,” in Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 158, (14 December, 2014), Pp. 160-165.
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Colin Mustful is the founder and editor of History Through Fiction. He is the author of four historical novels about the settlement and Native history of the Upper Midwest. His books combine elements of fiction and nonfiction to tell compelling and educational stories.
