Michael Thomas Harbuck						English 1201-SCC
03-17-2008								Essay 06 - argument
Ambrose								Sanford, Florida

Who Will Tell the Story?

Within the spiritual and genial world of literature, a narrator has the ability to use all of the senses 
of the body and mind, as well as all knowing and seeing powers referred to as god like, or 
omniscient abilities, to portray the characters of a story.  The author will however, at times, limit 
the observational circle to the respective limitations he or she may choose with regard to the plot, 
settings, and run of the narrative.  The various reasons why an author may or may not choose to 
place the observational capabilities of a character at or above those powers of other characters 
within a story are numerous indeed.  Whether these viewpoints are intentional, or a secondary 
product of the literary process cannot be determined unless the author can be questioned as to the 
methodology of the particular piece which was written as to the intentional literary personal usage.  
I should like to begin by comparing the interpretation and perception of a particular piece of 
music as a comparison to the attempt to recreate the intentions of the author and the guess of what 
he or she may have been attempting to illustrate through the playing of words with the stylus as 
the instrument.  As with a great symphony, for which one has no resourceful background and is hearing 
for the first time, there are no clear definitions of the meaning, nor intentions.  It is the use of the 
particular instruments and voices which will give life and meaning to the paragraphs of movements.   It 
is also of great importance, that one does not overplay the interpretation of any piece, for 
the true meaning should not be explained, but rather allowed to be felt as emotion which lingers in the 
heart continually for each of those who have literally en-joyed themselves upon the work.  
	Of the works which have been assigned half of the short stories utilize the third person, while the 
other half are written using the first persons.  The first-person point of view is typically used to develop a 
character, and or to bring the reader closer to understanding the feelings and actions of the character itself.  
The first-person is usually not involved in the action of the story per definition of one literary learning 
source (Types).  To the contrary, in Keys Locks and Open Doors by Jane Wallis Hicks employs the use 
of an active and participative first person narrator, who not only is the narrator, but also the main 
character, upon which all of the referenced and inferred literary symbolism, idealism, and realism is 
placed.  Through this action and realism created by the contemporaneous actions and narration, a 
veritable and believable character frame of mind is quickly developed and thrust into the imaginative 
consciousness of the reader.  
	An example of the third person objective is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.  This story has the 
best foreshadowing and symbolism of any of the read stories, and this is a result of the third person view, 
that is so descriptive in mentioning of the objects and the small elements and physical and mental 
characteristics of all involved.  This point of view is extremely successful in recognizing all person 
involved and applying all of the characteristics of these at times trivial seeming persons to the overall 
settings and plots.  
	The first person is a focusing tools, used to pinpoint one emotion, or target of the author 
particularly of a singular basis, while the third person is a broad spectrum authoring device whose 
implementation evokes an entire realm of thought and emotion, such as that which is required to place the 
reader into the crowd in the small town of The Lottery.  
	Alice Walker’s use of the first person in the story Everyday Use is successful at showing the 
human emotion of all of the persons involved, and especially those of the shy and unworthily portrayal of 
Maggie, the sister whose appearance has not met the standard of the new real world.  The effect of the 
mother, who is the narrator, having the power and maturity which defines the lineage of the two sisters, 
and how they will be viewed as a part of the heritage of the past in the future, is a powerful act of the 
author to incorporate, and the first person is the tool which is brought to bear.  
	A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Conner is presented in the third person omniscient, 
yet concentrates the hallowed omniscient abilities of the narrator upon the grandmother, and her views 
and struggles.  Perhaps this is to overcome the shallowness and one-sided thinking of the grandmother,  
while allowing her to appear more human than she is respectively due.  It is perhaps the author’s means 
of pacifying her own dislike of this character and her real life counterparts throughout her own life.  This 
story could very well have been written in the first person, as an important aspect:  the one sidedness 
from one character, is vividly present.  The view from the third person also gives an excellent overall 
description of all of the family members characteristics.  The third person, unfortunately, has given rise 
to what I will name the entertainment viewpoint, where, instead of being personal and intriguing to the 
mind of the reader, what is read, is instead viewed as some type of guiding cultural dogma, in which the 
actions overpower the actual literary art.  
	The societal viewpoint in A Worn Path by Eudora Welty uses the omniscient to portray the 
immediate third person view of the main character, the old woman named Phoenix.  Each of the 
secondary characters which is met, is a part of this third person, and the narrator takes the chance to use 
each of their views to give the old woman a nether worldly face to the reader.  The fable like descriptions 
play along with the notion of the old woman being a representative of the spirit of eternity and rebirth, 
hence her name.  The third person here is instrumental in acquiring the observations which the old 
woman may be aware of, such as the animals and the natural goings-on surrounding her, which she is not 
willing to teach the younger world to take notice of, of which have become a part of her presence, and in 
her own view, need no introduction.  
	In my brief view of the persons of the literary pieces read, I have noticed that the third person is 
nearly always an mixture of the subjective and the objective.  In my view this is a standing literary 
necessity which is a staple for all narrative, and thus nearly all types of writings.  Of the three major 
persons in literature, first, second, and third, the second is used the least, but is has been a part of some 
novels, and can be used in conjunction with other persons to complete the circle of view, is you will.  I 
cannot argue that one or the other of the persons is the better, or that is will perform optimally for each 
situation, I will however state, that the use of one of the particular persons can be random, that at times 
the persons could be switched without massive perversion of the view, and that the use of several of the 
persons creates a whole, which is at times coined, a novel, or are at least the minimum requirements for 
such a work.  Yet at all times, it is only a single consciousness which narrates, whether this is represented 
by a plural function,  or a projected person.  Unless multiple authors are involved, any and all of the 
views are of singular point this will be so, and this is fundamental of literature: that only one mind is 
being used to create the tones of the many.  This may preclude that literature is an imperfect art form, 
however, literature is the art of the one, and not the art of the many.  Whoever may tell the story is then, 
who has been chosen by whatever means to do so.

Works Cited 
"Types of Point of View." Literature. 2008. Annenberg Foundation. 17 Mar. 2008 <http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/pov2.html>.  

Outline -  

Es gab kein Outline, und ich will nicht ein hierin schrieben musessen.

Danke.

objective – only actions and descriptions.
third person – tells how characters feel....

Peuros et humunculos vedo atque.....
Perum bonum vedo.
Flamma bonam adio.

Keys locks and open doors 	– first person – participates.....
The interpreter of maladies 	- Jhumpa Lahiri – third person omniscient
Everyday use 			– alice walker - in the first person by the "Mama" (Mrs. Johnson)
The Lottery			 - is a short story by Shirley Jackson – third person
A good man is hard to find -   	- third person
A worn path			- Eudora Welty- third person omni
The prophecy  			-  first person