The Narrator

Grammatical Position

A narrator can adopt five grammatical stances, or voices: first-person, second-person, third-person limited, third-person omniscient, and third-person objective. First-person and third-person points of view are most common. Second-person point of view is rarely used.

First-person Narrative

A first-person narrator tells a story in the grammatical first-person, referring to himself as 'I' or 'We'. He must witness and experience events with his senses, or be told about events. This voice focuses more on a character’s feelings, opinions, and perceptions and on how that character views the world and other characters. This technique constitutes diegesis.

First-person - As if spoken

First-person narrative has several variations. The first is expressed as 'listen while I tell you '. This stance is favoured for short stories. Although the narrator can be a cerebral observer, usually a main character tells the story. A narrator's colourful, colloquial language can sustain interest for a long period, as in Huckleberry Finn.

One can achieve this form of narration in film through voice-over narration and judicious use of point-of-view and over-the-shoulder shots.

First-person - As if written

The second form of first-person narrative is presented as a written personal memoir or report, such as in Robinson Crusoe. The narrator can interject reflections and comments on the action and characters with an appreciation matured by time. This form also allows the author to move smoothly from place to place and period to period with little confusion.

An epistolary narrative is presented as a series of letters. It can reveal a great deal about the characters and the correspondents, but the action may feel distant, and it may take time for the audience to connect with the story.

Another form of ‘as if written’ narrative is a diary that records, over a long period, the variety of events in the diarist's life. A diary may also introduce personal fiction as the individual speculates on the denouement of events.

Stream of Consciousness

An even more intimate first-person narrative is a stream of consciousness or an 'interior monologue'. This form of narration presents a story through thoughts, impressions and sensations that flow through the mind of the narrator-character. The audience feels as if the character's thoughts flow directly through the character's brain, and the character's senses become the audience's.

First-person Multiple Narration

First-person multiple narration uses several first-person narrators, alternating among them with each new phase of the story. This allows the diversity of an omniscient narrator while adding the advantage of varied voices. Different characters can present the same story elements through their particular biases, providing a richer explanation of events.

Second-person Narration

Second-person narration is a stance in which the narrator tells the story to another character through that character's point of view. The listener is referred to as 'You'. This technique also constitutes diegesis.

Second-person narrative is common in interactive fiction and role-playing computer games. The reader can associate with the listener and imagine being within the action of the story.

Third-person Narration

Third-person narration is a story told in the grammatical third-person; the voice of the narrator describes what 'He' or 'They' did. The narrator’s voice often matches the author’s. This is perhaps the most common sort of narration.

Third-person Limited Narration

In third-person limited narration, the narrator is disembodied. The narrator does nothing, expresses no opinions and has no physical form in or out of the story. No implied fictional intermediary stands between the reader and the story. Events are observed from the outside through a single character’s senses and thoughts. The narrative is limited to the thoughts, feelings, and memories of a single character, not other characters.

Third-person Omniscient Narration

An omniscient (all-knowing) narrator is also disembodied: it takes no actions, casts no judgments, expresses no opinions, and has no physical form in or out of the story. The narrator dissolves and ceases to exist as a detectable entity (mimesis). The omniscient narrator speaks with the author’s voice and witnesses all events.

The omniscient narrator can reveal any element, secret, hidden, past or present, as well as the thoughts of all characters. The chronology of the story can be reordered in any way, and important elements can be withheld until the moment of greatest effect.

The third-person omniscient narrator is usually considered to be the most reliable narrator.

Third-person Objective Narration

In a third-person objective narration, the author records what can be seen and heard. It does not present the thoughts, feelings, memories, or reflections of characters. This type of narration is like the view of 'a fly on the wall'.