Dead Narrative Sources in lit (PoV)

[cornflower_o_shea]

No: HPFGUIDX 31184

EV VY Wrote: 
> I wouldn't agree here. As Cornflower O'Shea wrote:
> << Remember how we spent the first part of PS "aligned" with Uncle 
Vernon...>>
> The first part of the first chapter os PS is definintely written 
>from Uncle Vernon's PoV. An invisible narrator (whose PoV it would 
>have been) wouldn't be able to use anything like this: "He put the 
>receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking...  no, he 
>was being stupid . Potter wasn't such an unusual name. > The reader 
>gets an insight into the character's thoughts, etc. And it's Uncle 
>Vernon's perspective.

     But an "invisible narrator" can and does do just that in semi-
omniscient third person narratives. "Third person" in that it is 
always "He/She", never "I", which is important to consider when 
looking at point of view. i.e. What difference does it make that we 
get Harry's thoughts, but not through Harry's voice? "Onmiscient" 
because the "invisible narrator" CAN look into a character's brain, 
or insert a comment from their particular point of view, though not 
through their voice. In Uncle Vernon's case, his point of view is 
clearly parodied, repeated, but not truly "believed" by the narrator 
(Can I prove that? No I can't!). "Semi" because the author carefully 
chooses when and where to use omniscient insight, and when to use 
observational narrative (non-omniscient), to manipulate the effect.
Actually it would interesting to break down how exactly the books 
are constructed in terms of these types of shifts in "alignment". 
      For example, I can't think of any point where we are allowed 
any access to the thoughts of Snape or Dumbledore, and they are, to 
my mind, the most mysterious characters. Then again, I can only 
think of Frank, the townspeople, the Durselys, and Harry, that we do 
get extra-observational comments on. Does some painfully meticulous 
fanatic want to make a list of incidents where we do get omniscient 
insights (i.e. we are told things that simple observation could not 
reveal, like thoughts, opinions, sensory imput (like Harry's scar 
burning), etc.)?
      Anyway, I think it is important to separate semi-omniscient 
narative from pure point of view, in the first person sense. I 
really noticed this in the film. There are some jarring difference 
simply because the movie does not have a narrative voice. In 
particular scenes like the snake scene and the sorting hat seemed 
strangely wrong simply because Harry's internal narrative, which 
comes to us via the semi-omniscient voice, had to be externalized. 
      Here is the lead in to the snake scene from the book:
"He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - 
no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass 
trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a 
cupboard as a bedroom, where the only vistor was Aunt Petunia 
hammering on the door to get you up - at least he got to visit the 
rest of the house" (p.25 Candian Raincoast)
      So here we have a moment when the POV is still third person, 
but the tone shifts to one that an 11 year old boy would use. It is 
not Harry speaking, but the narrator shifts into his style of 
speaking. We get his feelings, his empathy with the snake, without 
his actually voice. I find this profoundly compelling. The third 
person narrative is generally more trustworthy, (unless used 
ironically, like in the case of Uncle Vernon), whereas first-person 
narration often tends to make us question the speaker, because we 
know that whoever is speaking is blinded by their own perspective. 
However in this quote, and throughout the books, we almost get first 
person, but the narrative remains, technically, third person.
       Stylistically it is quite a sophisticated way to win us over 
to Harry side; to develop a strong empathtic bond between the reader 
and Harry. It is very cleverly written, IMHO...
Cheers!

- Cornflower O'Shea

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"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" -Albus Dumbledore

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