【正文】 ndow to l if e. What a vi si on the novel pr ovides largely depends on the point of view. Ficti onal prose and point of vi ew As we know there ar e at least l evels of di scourse to account f or the l anguage of f ict ional pr ose ( no mat er it is a novel or a shor t st or y), j ust because the nar ator level i nter venes bet ween the char acter char act er l evel and the author r eader level . From the diagr am shown bel ow you wi l l see: Addresser 1 Message Addr esse 1 (Noveli st ) ( reader ) Addreser 2 Message Addressee 2 ( Nar ator ) ( nar ratee) Addresser 3 Message Addressee 3 ( Character A) (Character B) This di agr am onl y acounts f or t he novel “in general” i n t he sense that al l thr e l evel s, and al t hr ee pai rs of part ici pants ar e needed to expl ai n how t he novel works as a f orm . But any part icular novel may neutr al ize some of the di st incti ons, mul tipl y others, or do bot h at the same t ime. The fact that there ar e six part ici pants i n t he basic di scourse str uct ure f or the novel autom at ical y means t hat her e are more vi ewpoi nts t o be taken int o acount in t he novel than i n other genr es ( . poet ry) . But t he oppor tunit ies in par ti cul ar novels f or mult iplyi ng the number of vi ewpoi nt s to be consi dered, and r elated t o one anot her , ar e myr iad. It is thus har dly surpr ising t hat t he novel has bee t he genr e where wr it ers have expl ored viewpoint s ext ensi vel y. What i s a nar rat or? A nar rat or i s the one who t el s the stor y, of ten cal led t he st oryt el ler. But t he nar rator i s not necessar y t he noveli st. Even when the novel i s wr it en in the f ir st person, t he “I” i s not t he novel ist, but a per son invent ed by the novel ist . The l ogi c i s that a fi ct ional worl d, i f distur bed by a real per son, wil l col lapse. Ki nds of Poi nt of Vi ew Point of view can be divi de by the nar ator ’s r el ationship wi th the char acter, r epr esented by t he gr ammat ical per son: the f irst person narrat ive and t he thi rdperson narrat ive. I narrat ors The person who t el s the stor y may also be a character in the f icti onal wor ld of t he st ory, relat ing t he st ory af ter the event . In t his case the cri ti cs cal t he nar rat or a FIRST PERSON NARRATOR or I NARRATOR because when the nar ator ref er s t o himself or herself in the stor y the f ir st per son pr onoun I i s used. I n the f ir st nar rati ve, t he nar rator appear s in t he novel as “I” or “me ”. He may t el l a st ory in whi ch he himself i s the hero as i n The Advent ures of Hucklebery Fi nn, or he may t el l a story in whi ch he is onl y a mi nor character as in The Great Gatsby. Anyway, t he nar r at or is a part icipant in t he event s. By assum ing t he ident it y as “I”, the nar ator endears hi msel f to t he reader while he has t o sacr if ice the pr ivi lege of om nisci ence. b. Thirdperson narrators If t he nar rat or i s not a character i n the f ict ional wor ld, he or she i s usual y cal ed a THIRD PERSON NARRATOR, because refer ence t o al the character s in t he fi cti onal worl d of the stor y wi l i nvol ve the use of t he thi rd per son pr onouns, he, she, it or t hey. Thi s second mai n type of nar r at or is arguably t he dom inant nar rator t ype. In the t hird person narrat ive, t he nar r at or does not actual ly appear and al the character s ar e r ef er ed to as “he” or “t hey”. As a hidden obser ver , t he nar at or is pr ivil eged t o know al t he happenings or what he chooses to know, not onl y what act ual l y happens, but al so what goes on in the mi nds of t he char act er s. I n shor t, t he nar rat or i s f ree to be omnisci ent, or selecti vel y omni scient, or t o bot h alt ernati ng. I n War and Peace t he nar at or enj oys om ni sci ence. In The Am bassador the nar rator confi nes his fi el d of vision t o that of a char act er and r elates the st or y i n the characte r ’s point of view. Thi s char act er is a center and al l ot her s are laid out in due per specti ve. Point of view can be di vi ded by the nar ator ’s r el ati on wit h t he events—whet her t he nar rat or part ici pat es or not: t he part ici pant narrat or and t he nonparti cpant narrat or. The parti ci pant narrator i s a per son who has experi enced something and es back t o r epor t. I shmael in M oby Dick i s a good example. As a par tici pant , t he nar rat or may take an act ive or pasive r ole i n t he event. Hi s report and under st andi ng of the event may or may not be r el iable or plet e, because he is denied omni sci ence and he may be pr ej udi ced. The nonpart ici pant narrat or st ands out si de what he i s rel at ing and t her ef ore, he i s gi ven pl ete f reedom as for what he wi shes to do wit h t he st or y. So poi nt of vi ew can be divided by t he ext ent of the nar rator ’s knowledge of the event s: t he omni sci ent narrat or, t he sel ect ive omni scient narrat or, t he obj ect ive narrator and t he so cal led “i nnocent eye”. The om ni sci ent nar ator knows ever yt hing wher eas t he selecti ve omniscient nar rator knows som ething. The obj ect ive nar ator does not tel l but shows. He i s li ke a camera t hat goes fr om scene t o scene and r ecords what can be recorded f or t he reader . This kind of point of view is also cal ed the dramat ic point of view because t he reader i s li ke the audience in a t heat er . The innocent eye nar rat or understands what he i s rel at ing l es t han the r eader does. Ther ef ore, his nar ati on is capabl e of ir ony. A nar ator is governed simul taneously by al l the t hr ee standar ds ment ioned above