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Summary of Norman Friedman's Point of View in Fiction
In our time, one of the most significant changes in fiction, is the disappearance of the author. Compared to Victorian novels, in which the author was very present, today a story should rather tell itself through the impressions of the characters and not by the author. This way of telling a story is, according to Schorer, the only way for the author to create an aesthetic relationship between him and his work. Today, the technique of "Point of View" is becoming one of the most useful distinctions in fiction.
Literature uses language as its medium, and because of that, it expresses more ideas and attitudes, than other arts, but also does it show weaker images. The author is constantly concerned with the problem, what effects his own attitudes and values have on the reader. That is why the question of point of view is so important in fiction. Every different way of telling a story has a different effect on the reader. There have been two opposite points in time, between which the history of the concept of point of view can be plotted. Already Plato distingushed between two different ways of telling a story simple narration and imitation.In simple narration the author can appear anywhere and at any time within the story, as in imitation the author speaks through one of his characters. The main distinction, to Plato, is the dialogue. To Joyce the voice of the author loses itself more and more in the different types of writing. So he says that in lyric the poet is very present in what he is writing. It is very personal. Drama is to him the most unpersonal. The author is almost not present at all. Epic lays to Joyce in between lyric and drama. Using these theorys with the problem of point of view another problem arises. The problem of the relation between the author, the narrator, and the story subject. James, who always tried to find a focus for his storys, solved this problem by putting the action inside the consciousness of one of the characters within the plot. Lubbock applied the general distinction between direct and indirect presentation. He says that the novelist has to think of his story as a matter to be shown and that it has to look real. It does not look real if it is told by simple narration, rather than it tells itself.The author puts an obstacle between the illusion he creates, which is supposed to look real, and the reader, by putting his own voice into the story. There is only one rule for the author, to stick to the point of view he has chosen to write in. Forster thinks the same as Lubbock, but prefers to regard the novel otherwise. He says that the author is not robbed of his privilege. He uses his omniscience and tells by that a secret life. He can even shift between points of view as long as it is convincing to the reader. Beach's study of the technique in the twentieth-entury novel mainly says that the story tells and speaks for itself. The author lets his characters speak for themselves about what they feel and what they think. The author does not need to explain it any further. Schorer takes Lubbock's theory of point of view even further. He examines the uses of point of view not only as a mode of dramatic delimitation, but more particulary, of thematic definition. An author controlles the values and attitudes in his created world by the mode they are told. Today it seems more believable the farer away the author is in his novel.
To explain the point of view, certain questions may arise. Such as With what kind of telling can the author create the smallest distance between the story and the reader? From what angle does the story tell itself? Who is talking to the reader? How does the author bring information towards the reader? These questions can only be answered by explaining the different types of point of view. The following paragraphs will show the different modes. They are arranged from "telling" to "showing". The author will be less present in every new type explained than before, until total abscence.
Editorial Omniscience
The author appears as "I" or "We".He knows everything about the characters and the scenes. His point of view is unlimited. The reader does not only get the information from the characters and what they think, but also from the author's mind and what he thinks. He reports what happens, but also criticizes it. The author can shift his focus back and forth as often as he pleases.
Neutral Omniscience
This Omniscience differs only from editorial omniscdience with the absence of the direct authorial intrusions. Even though the author mainly speaks in the third person, his own opinion can still be seen. The characters in his text speak for themselves, but because of his omniscience the author explains them and events with his own voice. He mainly is a narrator, but can still express his own thoughts. The main charactaristic of omniscience is the fact that the author can always put his own values between the reader and the story. He does not need to have the same opinion as the characters in his story and can say it.
"I" as a Witness
If the author choses to write in this mode, he gives up his entire omniscience and has the story told by some one else. The witness-narrator is a character in the story and speaks to the reader in the first person. He is not an active part of the plot, but has acces to all the characters. He might even have glimpses of what the characters feel and think, by seeing i.e. letters or diarys. The scenes are presented by the witness and as he sees them, so they are delievered directly to the reader.
"I" as a Protagonist
There is not much difference between the "I" as a witness and the "I" as a protagonist, but as a protagonist the narrator is an active part of the plot and is involved in most of the actions. Therefore the narrotor can only express his own thoughts and feelings. He can only guess what the other characters are thinking.
Multiple Selective Omniscience
Choosing this style of writing, the reader does not have anybody talking to him anymore. The story is told by the characters minds and thoughts. The question may arise, what the difference is between this omniscience and the ones shown before. The diffence is that the scenes are not explained by the author, they are just told as they happen out of a characters mind. The story is told as if it happens right then. Editorial and neutral omniscience axplain and summarize a scene after it happened.
Selective Omniscience
With this mode, the reader is limited to only one mind of one of the characters. This character can only guess what the other characters might think or do while he is not with them. In every other way, it has the same charactaristics as multiple selctive omniscience.
The Dramatic Mode
In the dramatic mode, the reader can only read the actions of the characters and what they say. Nobody is speaking to the reader and the reader has no option to know what the characters think by only reading. Usually it is said that the dramatic mode is supposed to be played in front of an audience and fiction is to be read.
The Camera
This mode leads us to the ultimate authorial exclusion. A scene is transmitted without any selection or arrangement of information. The biggest problem that arises in this mode the complete loss of structure, which leads to the question if literature loses its charactaristic of being an art.
Today the point of view has changed compared to the Victorian novels mainly because of the change in fashion. It cannot be said if it is for the better or the worse, but in modern novels it is liked better to have a feeling of being within the story and not being far away from it. But still, the choice of point of view to be made by an author can be compared with the choice of verse by a poet for lyric. By choosing a certain point of view the author can define the distance he wants the reader to have to the story. He creates the atmosphere around the novel. By giving up more of his authorial intrusions he gains a more realistic illusion. And creating a realistic illusion should be the main aim for an author nowadays.
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