Lecture 15: Seeing through Other Eyes—Point of View
z The most all-inclusive point of view is the omniscient third person. This
is the point of view in which the author and the narrator seem to be more
or less the same person, though that’s not necessarily the case. This sort of
narration sees, knows, and usually reveals everything about the characters
in the story. This point of view is often called godlike because, like an
all-powerful, all-knowing deity, the narration can see into the hearts and
minds of its characters, revealing their most intimate secrets.z A little closer to the ground but still fairly high up on the curve is the
objective third-person point of view. One of the best examples of this
point of view is Dashiell Hammett’s 7KH0DOWHVH)DOFRQ. In this novel,
although we see and hear everything every character does, we never get
inside their minds.
o Unlike an omniscient point of view, which generally shows us
what characters are thinking and feeling, the objective third
person is more like a video camera, recording and reporting
everything it sees but allowing readers to make up their own
minds about the characters’ feelings, thought, and motivations.o This may be the most lifelike point of view because it
reproduces what it feels like for each of us to move through
the real world, trying to infer what other people around us are
thinking from their speech or actions but never really knowing
for sure. Although it’s perhaps more lifelike, it’s also colder
than third-person omniscient, which engages more deeply and
intimately in the lives of its characters.z About halfway down the dome of our imaginary sky is the close or limited
third-person point of view. More recently, this has come to be known as
IUHHLQGLUHFWGLVFRXUVH. In this point of view, the narration uses third-
person pronouns, and like the omniscient third person, it gets inside the
minds of its characters. But in many narratives of this sort, the whole story
or novel is generally told from the point of view of only one character.
o Because this close third-person point of view can often shift
among several characters in the same narrative, it can easily turn
into the omniscient third person. George Eliot’s 0LGGOHPDUFK is
written in this way, as is Faulkner’s /LJKWLQ$XJXVW.