As a first person narrator, Nick gives us the story through his own perspective; using sophisticated vocabulary (formal, literary terms). However Nick’s sentences can be challenging to read (grammatically complex) and creates obscurity for the reader; this gives us the impression Nick is a literary man, after all he is writing a book. First person narration creates a personal view for the reader because we gain an insight into the character’s thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, during this chapter, Fitzgerald does not use a focaliser; therefore we are only given one perspective from the narrator of the story, so far. We are given a recollection of certain experiences; for instance, when Nick says “after various delays I came east, permanently”, a sense of foreshadowing is created to engage the reader and also makes the reader curious, as to why Nick moved to the East and what caused him return to the Midwest?
In addition to sharing their actions, thoughts, and feelings with the reader, Henry James reveals insights about the characters in The Portrait of a Lady by employing architectural and landscape imagery as a means for characterization. Rather than directly describing the characters’ appearances, James uses architectural settings to reflect the characters’ attributes, often treating the description a character’s home and context as an extension of the character’s personality. From the façade of a building to the description of a room’s interior, James presents every setting to the reader to reveal something larger about the novel’s characters. Without James’ detailed descriptions, true understanding of the book’s complex characters would be incomplete. The settings in The Portrait of a Lady cultivate a context in which the reader witnesses the transformation of Isabel Archer’s values, attitude and perspectives.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald conveys narrative in a few different ways. For example, some techniques he uses are; first person narrative given to other characters, lists, Nick’s own accounts of other people’s feelings and points of view and manipulation of time. First person narrative from other characters is an effective way of Fitzgerald conveying information to the reader without his narrator, Nick, having to explain things that he could not possibly know. An example of this is when Fitzgerald wrests away the narration from Nick and hands it to Jordan Baker for a while in Chapter 4. Jordan then proceeds to fill Nick in on the history Daisy and Gatsby have together – among other things, that they were young, in love and the day before her wedding, Daisy considered leaving Tom for Gatsby (however, she soon changed her mind).
The Disdain of Total Equality Total equality may seem fair and justifiable in the eyes of some people, but in many cases it turns out to be little more than a form of oppression, in which a group of people limit the abilities of others. Throughout the story Vonnegut speaks of this necessity for equality and the means that the government goes to achieve it by using devices called ‘handicaps’; one example of this is George’s earpiece, “A buzzer sounded in George’s head. His thoughts fled in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.” Vonnegut’s simile here creates a sort of loud diction, which expresses the sheer discomfort invoked by these restraints on the person wearing them. The governing body in this society views this as the solution to a problem, one that happens to be relatively impossible to solve, this is how Vonnegut incorporates satire into his story. He is poking fun at the age old concept of ‘equality,’ one that has inspired wars and movements alike; he accomplishes this by creating a system to make everyone equal, a system that happens to be just as stupid as the idea of ‘total equality.’ Under this system equality is achieved, but it is at the cost of individual freedom and a society full of stupid people, this in-turn creates the situational irony found in the story.
In the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, the reader is introduced to the main characters in the novel, including the narrator Nick. It also outlines Nick’s background, including his upbringing and new life in New York’s prestigious West Egg. It is within this chapter that the reader is first introduced to the fundamental themes of the novel, money and ideas of social class, and this sets the tone for the rest of the book. The famous Gatsby is also first characterised in this chapter, along with Daisy and Tom Buchanan and it is here that their relationship is vitally conveyed to the reader. One of the ways in which Fitzgerald tells the story in Chapter 1 is through his use of narrative.
Explain how Fitzgerald tells the story in chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses the Great Gatsby to portray his opinion of the social elite’s attitude towards society in the 1920’s through the words of Nick Carraway. Nick’s account in the novel is based heavily around his own memories and opinions; therefore the novel may be misleading as the reader is deeply influenced by Nick, and only sees what Nick wants them to see. Chapter seven is one of the most significant chapters in the novel as it sheds light on Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, and also shows how Gatsby is reluctant, despite the extreme circumstances, to give up the dream he has been chasing for so long. At the start of chapter seven, Fitzgerald writes that Gatsby’s ‘career as Trimalchio was over’, referring to Trimalchio the slave, this implies that Gatsby believed that he was no longer a slave to finding Daisy – he had reached his dream and therefore ironically, he found no need for the lavish parties that he had hosted solely for Daisy even though Trimalchio held sumptuous banquets when he received freedom – this shows how Gatsby, despite what he thought, was not actually free, he was still very much trapped by Daisy.
A Different Perspective Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage and Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep are two pieces of literature that are worth studying. This essay will discuss the use and effects of narration in the two books. The discussion will start with an analysis of the different points of view commonly used by writers. Then the two novels will be analyzed using these concepts. Specific topics of interest include the point of view of the narrator, how this influences the way we perceive the stories, and why the authors chose these ways of telling their stories.
Stampler revealed at the end of the film that his real personality is that of Roy, and that he had made up his other personality of Aaron. In an effort to make Aaron appear as innocent as possible, Stampler adopted a stutter, and spoke very slowly and quietly. This was highly exaggerated in contrast to his actual persona of Roy, who was confident, violent, and remorseless. This is consistent with research done on malingering, which shows that malingerers will often exaggerate their presentation of symptoms (Ramsland, 2002). Furthermore, research on multiple personality disorder (MPD) (now known as dissociative identity disorder) showed that people attempting to feign MPD would often report having two stereotypical good versus bad personalities, while true sufferers of MPD normally report having “a tetrad of personalities” (Kluft, 1987, p.112).
In terms this could flip the whole tone of the novel whether it was depressing due to the old man’s mind, or vulgar and hostile from the younger waiter’s point of view. If Ellison were to choose to Write B.R. in third person there would then be two different sides to the story instead of just one. The reader wouldn’t be able to decipher the truth between what’s being told correctly and what would end up being slightly twisted. The story would become less personal and not have as great of an effect on the
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and “Novel” by Arthur Rimbaud both have striking similarities and connections that pertain to an overall idea of coming of age. The narrator of the poem and Holden from Catcher describe various experiences, vividly showing their points of view and inner feelings of these experiences. But especially similar is how they are not exactly walking on the path of maturity. People tend to take a liking to the period of coming of age, which greatly affects them in terms of progressively becoming mature.