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pressure to endorse a particular opinion of any of the characters or
actions in the story.
o A version of 0RE\'LFN narrated by Ahab or a version of 7KH
UHDWDWVE\ narrated by Gatsby would require us to take sides
for or against the narrator, while an objective third-person
version of these two novels would not be nearly as engaging.
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the central character—as opposed to the narrator—is both
charismatic and slippery, as Ahab and Gatsby are. Ishmael and
Nick Carraway allow us to get close but not too close.The Heroic Narrator
z The heroic narrator is usually the main character or one of the main
characters and takes an active role in the events of the story. In this
case, the narration’s evocation of character is equally important to
telling the story.
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narrator at face value and assume that he or she is telling the truth. But
heroic narration also invites readers to actively endorse the narrator’s
judgments of the other characters and situations in the story.
z We don’t root for Nick Carraway in 7KHUHDWDWVE\ because he’s not
the main character, and Nick’s slight remove from the action enables us
to make up our own minds about Gatsby. But in -DQH(\UH, we are not
only asked to assume that Jane is telling the truth throughout, but we
are also actively encouraged to endorse Jane’s judgments of the other
characters and to root for things to turn out well for her.
z With a heroic narrator, there is not much difference between the
narrator’s opinion of the other characters and the author’s. Consider
Philip Marlowe, the hard-boiled private investigator who is the main
character and narrator of the detective stories of Raymond Chandler.