The Choice of Narrator and Its Effects

毛玉清

Abstract： A novel is a long narrative which describes fictional characters and events. It would be narrated in different ways or angles. The narrators can be roughly classified into heterodiegetic narrator and homodiegetic narrator. Different choice of narrator would have different effects. This passage is going to analyze the effects of different narrators in different novels.

Key words： Novel； Narrator； Heterodiegetic； Homodiegetic

一、Early Autumn

In the story Early Autumn which is about the story that the two who were lovers met each other again， it is narrated by heterodiegetic narrator. It has three effects. The first one is that heterodiegetic narrator can know something in the past and at present. For example， in Early Autumn， the narrator can know what happened between Mary and Bill when both of them were young and the life of them at present. The second one is that the narrator can know both Bill and Marys inner world. For example， written in the novel， “you are looking very- （He wanted to see old）”. From this sentence， we can know the narrator is able to know what Bill really wants to say. What more， “Unconsciously， she lifted her face as though wanting a kiss-” From this sentence， we can know the narrator is able to know what Mary really wants to do. The third one is that the narrator can describe the sittings naturally and independently， which could be seen in the novel.

However， if we use Bill as a homodiegetic narrator， some effects couldnt be reached. For example， Bill is not able to know Marys inner feelings. Even if he can write something about Marys feeling， it wouldnt be so much authentic as it written by heterodiegetic narrator.

二、The Story of An Hour

The main idea of The Story of An Hour is that a ladys， Mrs Mallard， a series of reaction after knowing her husbands death. This story is also narrated by heterodiegetic narrator， but compared to Early Autumn， it has different effects. In this novel， it mainly has two effects. The one is that the narrator can know details about characters inner thoughts and their facial expressions which the characters dont realize. In this novel， there are many descriptions in details of Mrs. Mallard， such as， “with a paralyzed inability”， “wild abandonment”， “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul”， “quite motionless”， “she was young， with a fair， clam face， whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” Nevertheless， if we use Mrs. Mallard as a narrator， although she could know herself very well， she cant describe her facial expression or some subconscious behaviors in details. Another is that although the narrator knows all the characters， he can choose one that he really wants to show readers， and then describe the main character carefully. For example， in Story of An Hour， the main character is Mrs. Mallard. Therefore， the narrator uses a lot of paragraphs to describe Mrs. Mallard in details. However， the other characters， such as Josephine， Richards， and Brently， are described less than the main character.

三、The Gospel According to Mark

The novel， The Gospel According to Mark， about a medical student named Baltazar Espinoza， whose life is changed when his cousin Daniel invites him to spend vacation to La Colorada ranch. In this story， the author， Jorge Luis Borges also chiefly employs the heterodiegetic narrator angle， as far as I know which has two main effects. The one is that the narrator knows everything in the novel like God. He knows Espinosa， his father and his mother. Except that， he also knows the Gutres. Another effect is that the narrator shows readers the characters personalities directly and indirectly. In the novel， form this sentence---”Owing to an acquiescent nature--”--- it shows the personality of Espinosa directly. Then， such as， “--he said yes at once--it was easier to say yes than to dream up reasons for saying no. “， “‘yes， to save everyone from Hell”， and “yes， said Espinosa， whose theology was rather dim.” All these sentences show the readers indirectly that Espinosa has no his own perception， always keeps silent and isnt brave enough to express his own real thoughts， which is objective and convincing.

四、 The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

As for this story， the author mainly uses heterodiegetic narrator angle. Its Protagonist is Jim Smiley. Therefore the narrator tells readers too much about him and unveils a lot of things that Smiley cant realized by himself， which is objective and convinced. For example， in the novel， “--he was the curiosest man about always betting on anything that turned up you ever see--” which is the objective description of Smiley.

五、 The Tell-Tale Heart

Different from others， this novel is narrated by homodiegetic narrator. In my opinion， it has two chiefly effects. The first is that the narrator just could his own inner thoughts， but he doesnt know something about other characters. If he writes something about others， it would be what he guesses. Like this novel， the narrator tells readers too much about his or her own thoughts and feelings. However， the narrator also shows something about the police. For example， “the officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them”， which has little reliability； because it gives readers this kind of feeling that the thoughts of the police are just guessed by the narrator. In addition， it also has another effect that the narrator can know his own feelings， when the thing happened in the past and except that， he can also tell readers his feelings at present， when he reviews the thing. In The Tell-Tale Heart， in the previous part， the narrator shows too much about his or her own thoughts when he or she killed the old man. Whats more， he or she also tells the readers the feelings when the thing is recalled. For example， “you should see how wisely I proceeded--”， from the sentence， it could be seen that his comment on what he did in the past.

六、Conclusion

By analyzing these five novels， it would be concluded that the choice of different narrators has different effects and that one narrative angle could have different effects in different novels or could have multiple effects in one novel.