IGNOU BEGE-108 Types of Narrative Modes

IGNOU BEGE-108 Types of Narrative Modes

Types of Narrative Modes

Narrative mode is a novelist's method by which she/he can create, describe or comment upon situations and or characters. Generally, a novelist uses only one specific narrative mode suited to what she/he wants to narrate and how she/he wishes to do so. Sometimes, a novelist could use a combination of several narrative modes simultaneously in a work of fiction. But using different narrative modes an author is able to sustain the interest of the readers in the narrative and also able emphasise the different points of view presented in the novel. The well-known types of narrative methods are Third Person Narrative and First Person Narrative.

Third Person Narrative Mode

In the third person narrative mode, the narrator is someone who is located outside the story and who refers to all the characters in the story by name or as 'she' or 'he'. The narrator is a know-all in the sense that he knows everything that needs to be known about the characters as well as the situations. He may appear to be god-like in the sense that he knows more about the characters than the characters themselves. he has complete hold over and access to the character's thoughts, feelings, emotions, motives speech and even actions. Whenever a third-person enjoys this privileged, almost sovereign status, then the narrator is omniscient and the narrative mode is the third person omniscient mode.

When the third person omniscient narrator chooses to focus on the thoughts, feelings or experiences of a single character or a limited number of characters within a story, then it is identified as a third person limited narrative mode. In such instances, a novelist seeks to impose certain limitations upon him/herself so as to be able to present all situations/characters through the eyes/perspective of a character she/he sympathises with the most.

First Person Narrative Mode

In the first person narrative mode, a novelist creates a character/persona in the first-person and attempts to view other characters/situations through his/her eyes. When such a mode of narration is used in a sustained manner through a novel, then it is an instance of the first person narrative mode. Sometimes the use of the first person narrative mode may mislead the reader to think that the narrator is the same as the author or at the nest, an alter ego of the author. The narrator/author distinction may ultimately disappear in certain cases, especially in an autobiographical novel, but it does not always happen in this manner. In fact, even in an autobiographical novel, the facts/events/situations are fictionalized to such an extent that the distance between the narrator and the author increases considerably.

The first person narrative mode imposes more limitations, it perceives characters/situations from the standpoint of a single character and not an omniscient narrator, it does offer a circumscribed view of whatever a novel may describe. However, it is generally preferred for the following reasons:

• It lends a degree of authenticity to the narrative as the reader gets a feeling that she/he is listening to the story straight from the horse's mouth.
• It lends a sense of immediacy to the narrative and therefore makes for a greater involvement on the part of the reader.