Theme and Narrative Elements

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To tell a story takes many elements, one of the most important elements to your story is the theme. “The theme in a story is associated with an idea that lies behind the story.” (Clugston, 2010) It is the idea that gives meaning to the story. A good story will bring life through the characters and the actions in the story. The theme in “I Used to Live Here Once,” is understood by looking at the point of view and some of the symbolism in the story. The point of view is important to the development of the theme. It lets us know who is telling the story. In this story it seems that based on the title you would think that it is written in the first-person. As you read further into the story, you then realize that it is actually written in the third-person point of view. The narrator is not part of the story, and it is limited omniscient, that is “when the thoughts and feelings of only one of the characters are related through the narrator.” (Clugston, 2010) The theme of the story would be how the woman is yet to understand that she is no longer living as she’s moving through familiar ground. For the story, “I Used to Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys, we could almost assume that the story is about a woman who moved away from her homeland to go to a new place and has now returned home and she’s taking the path of which she is familiar with but noticing changes along way. As the reader, we can assume that the changes let us know that it has been awhile. The two children who are playing outside the woman’s old house in the sunshine ignore her. It could be possible that the children are ignoring her because they don’t recognize her and maybe they are taught not to acknowledge strangers. Is this what is going on? I believe there is a bigger picture here. The narrator tells us in the third paragraph that “that the sky had a glassy look….” This could be because the woman
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