The Choice of Narrator and Its Effect

【Abstract】Narrator， a creature in novels， is the speaker who tells the story instead of the author himself. Different narrators will lead to different effects. It is the author who creates the whole story， while it is the narrator who makes the whole story vivid to readers.

【Key words】narrator； homogeneous narrator； heterogeneous narrator

Generally， there are two kinds of narrators： homogeneous narrator and heterogeneous narrator. Homogeneous narrator usually intervenes or plays roles in the story， which fills the story with subjective emotions. As a heterogeneous narrator， he is independent of the story with objectivity.

The story called Early Autumn is told by heterogeneous narrator. The story begins with Bill and Marys love story. The narrator only uses several sentences to put it to an end. Obviously， he does not use any detailed information to represent their love at that time， even though he has a clear mind of their love. In this way， the narrator leaves space for readers imagination and arouses readers interests to wonder what happened then. The story is mainly developed through the scene of Bill and Marys encounter especially the conversations between them as well as natural settings. Narrator like a witness records their communication. In the narration of the conversation， Marys enthusiasm and Bills coldness form a sharp contrast. The heterogeneous narrator deeply reveals the psychological activities of the two characters. If the narration is in the point of view of Mary or Bill， readers cannot reach the inner world of the other and readers cannot get a broad understanding of their relations. In addition， settings are integral elements in a story. The heterogeneous narrator in Early Autumn focuses on changes of natural environment. The late afternoon， falling leaves， and the lights on the avenue are associated with Marys sadness. Only from an omniscient viewpoint， can nature be endowed with emotions hidden inside Marys inner world rather than express them directly and plainly.

The Story of An Hour chooses a heterogeneous narrator to tell the story as well. In an omniscient limited viewpoint， Josephine and Richard told Mrs. Mallard the news of her husbands death cautiously considering her heart trouble. This kind of narration enhances the objectivity and impartiality. The closely followed plot is narrated from an omniscient point of view of heterogeneous narrator， which vividly shows different reactions between Mrs. Mallard and other woman. This contrast gives reader a special and profound impression on Mrs. Mallard paving the road for further development of the plots. Reaching the climax of the story， the narrator uses an omniscient viewpoint to observe outside environment and explore psychological activities of Mrs. Mallard. As a result， the characters of narrative object， Mrs. Mallard， are enriched in all aspects； on the other hand the sort of narration deepens readers understanding of Mrs. Mallard. Finally， narrator with an omniscient limited point of view presenting different reactions from different characters leads to a dramatic ending.

The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart is a homogeneous narrator and sometimes it is called unreliable narrator. The whole story uses “I” to tell a story of the process that “I” murdered an old man in order to prove that “I” am sanity. There are lots of evidences explaining why the narrator is unreliable. First， it is impossible for “me” to hear the beating of dead mans heart. Second， “I” cannot stand the policemens hypocritical smiles. For one thing， the narrator “I” is insanity； for another， his words are beyond belief. In this way， the unreliable narrator reflects the irony from the author. The unreliable narrator contributes to a deepen theme of the story. The subjectivity of a homogeneous narrator determines partial exploration of the whole story， whereas homogeneous narrator perfectly fits in personal exposures.

In the story named The celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County， specially， there are two narrators both of homogeneous narrator “I” and heterogeneous narrator “Simon Wheeler”. To begin with， “I” just gives a brief introduction of Simon and I make some comments on him. Subsequently， the narrator is shift to Simon. The change of narrator enlarges the space for free narration and fills the plot with ups and downs which improve the rhythm of the story. Most essentially， it makes the story more vivid and attractive.

Conclusion： The choice of narrator in a story is a matter of great importance. In other words， the narrator may be the soul of the story. Different narrators lead to different effects. A wise choice of narrator makes the story special and excellent.

References：

[1]范茹.敘述視角和文學的真實性[J].安徽文學，2011.

[2]董海梅.小說敘述視角論.2010.

[3]曹波.讓敘事者站在故事之外 —論海明威《永別了，武器》中的敘事策略.2001.

[4]王利琳.淺析凱特·肖班《一小時的故事》中的敘述視角越界及其美學效果.2011.

作者簡介：葉雯琳（1994.12-），女，四川成都人，南充市順慶區西華師范大學，英語（師范）專業，本科生。