Muhamed Gueye

Period: 8
01/17/2020

Narrators are a very essential and unique force that authors have in their possession. When an
author creates a narrator they are also creating their voice, tone, and even theme in certain
instances. A very special feature that narrators have is the ability to unfold stories in a numerous
amount of sequences. Some narrators follow a chronological order to a story’s path while others
may start from the conclusion to the bud of the passage. There are even irregular narrators that
begin a story right at the climax of it and expand throughout the story. The sequence that a
narrator uses to tell a story can change even the very meaning of the text or even one’s own
perspective.

For instance, in “The Progress of Love” Munro begins the story with “ I got a call at work, and it
was my father. This was not long after I was divorced and started in the real-estate
office.”(Munro). This starting sentence shapes the flow and order of the text. Munro didn’t waste
any time developing the setting or introducing characters but went straight into the plot. The
course of a text is usually laid out early on in a story.

Similarly, “The Story Of An Hour” is another good example of how order of events can impact a
whole story. The story begins with an ambush of information being “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard
was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the
news of her husband’s death.”(Chopin). Readers are told that Mrs.Mallard has a heart problem
and her husband died but the conclusion of the story reveals that the husband was fine and
came home to a shock. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mallard had a heart attack when she saw her
husband enter the door and “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--
of the joy that kills.”(Chopin). Mrs. Mallard gained a freedom unlike any other when her husband
passed but then fell back down to reality when her husband came home which subsequently
caused her to have a heart attack. The sequence can lead readers to a sudden realization at
the conclusion of a story.

There is a secret combination that many narrators employ to arouse readers will maintaining
whatever order of events they are basing their story in regards to. Information is very vital for
readers and it just happens to be that readers are intrigued by stories that give limited to no
background or answers to certain inquiries presented throughout a text. Narrators not only have
the power to tell the story in whatever order they please but also the ability to withhold
information for however long in a passage. Some narrators don’t even give the readers an
answer to the questions or thoughts they raise throughout stories and may leave a story open-
ended to leave the conclusion ultimately to the reader’s perspective. Readers can be teased
through this form of storytelling manner yet, nevertheless, read even more instinctively to find
answers that may very well not be present.
The combination of storytelling sequence and information reserving gives narrators the
incredible power to shape literature into whatever they please. An emotional narrator might
construct a story from the bottom up and disperse the theme and or message of the passage
through the conclusion. An angry narrator might begin a story at the climax to then emphasize
the theme through bits and pieces. Put simply, the narrator is an extension of the author’s
persona in a piece of literary text.

For example, within “The Progress of Love” by Alice Munro, A unique narrative leads the
storyline. Specifically, the passage states “My eyes followed that rope up and up and I saw it
was just hanging over the beam, just flung there—it wasn’t tied at all! Marietta hadn’t noticed
that, the German lady hadn’t noticed it. But I just spoke up and said, ‘Mama, how are you going
to manage to hang yourself without that rope tied around the beam?’ ” Mr. Florence said,
“That’d be a tough one.””(Munro). The narrator previously mentioned how she ran, as a little girl,
when she first saw her mother with the noose around her neck. To the reader’s surprise, Munro
reveals later in the passage that the narrator’s mother was just acting out to get her husband’s
attention. The nonchronological structure of “The Progress of Love” is a good reference to how
narrators can mold the progression of a text by using an unorthodox yet unique structure. In
addition, when the first narrator mentioned how her “mother once burned up three thousand
dollars,”(Munro) she left out that her father was watching as her mother burned the money and
then retracted that statement as her dad wasn’t present. It’s interesting how narrators such as
the one in “The Progress of Love” can provide readers with bits and pieces of truths throughout
the story.

One particular literary device that narrators manipulate to develop a theme and or themes is
tone. By definition, tone is the expression of a writer’s attitude toward or feelings about a topic.
Narrators of fiction work usually write about experiences in their very own life or imagination
sparked from natural phenomena. Tone is the microphone that sets the approach, emotional or
logical, of a narrator’s literary flow. Similar to that of tone, mood is the atmosphere of a passage
and corresponds with the tone. Mood can be comprehended as the setting of a literary piece
while tone is the acute feeling of the narrator in regards to the setting. Narrators can apply
various emotional literary elements such as mood and tone to build adamant pathos between
themselves and readers.

While emotional play through mood and tone are very powerful strengths for narrators, literary
captivation is heavily impactful such as figurative language. A narrator’s attitude or stance on a
text can serve as a persuasive agent for readers to see things from the narrator’s perspective.
Contrarily, figurative language elements allow readers to perceive the narrator’s perspective
with their own interpretations as well. When narrators compare one thing with something else of
a different kind or describe an object or action in a way that isn’t literal they are using simile and
metaphor elements. The objective comparing two different things and describing things in a
non-literal sense is done through descriptive diction to further push a reader’s thinking or create
a visual for readers, imagery. Narrators use figurative language to force readers to imagine what
an author is expressing or stating.
 In particular, the short story, “The Black Ball”, uses many forms of figurative language to hint
towards deeper themes in the passage. The “black ball” doesn’t only serve as the title but also a
figurative device employed later on in the text. In other words, the narrator states after an
altercation with Berry “Daddy, what did that man mean?” “Mean how, son?” “About a black ball.
You know, Daddy.” “Oh--that” “you know, Daddy. What’d he mean?” “He meant, son, that if your
ball landed in his office again, Daddy would go after it behind the old black ball””(Ellison). The
son was perplexed on the idea of the black ball and posed questions about what Berry meant by
it. Through explorative details, the narrator states “He had already played with the ball; that he
would discover later. He was learning the rules of the game already, but he didn’t know it. Yes
he would play wit the ball. Indeed, poor little rascal, he would play until he grew sick of playing.
My, yes, the old ball game”(Ellison). Readers are left to build their interpretation of what the
black balls symbolize. Hints such as when the son said how Berry must’ve been blind since his
ball was white could represent how pure and innocent the child is and how black would engulf
his “ball” as a representation of racism and the ways people discriminate. Figurative devices
such as symbolism allow readers to truly take charge of their own comprehension.

Character is a key mechanic that narrators can sway in directions that could very well change
the storyline or impact other characters. Some narrators establish their centralized characters
early in a text and don’t add new characters to have readers stay focused on the established
characters. On the other hand, some narrators regularly introduce new characters throughout a
story to pull readers in, add a new perspective, or even contribute to the theme.

Although narrators have many powers within a story, some narrators are conveyed as an
unreliable narrative. Unreliable narrators are narrators that have seriously compromised
credibility within a reading. Such narrators provide readers untrustworthy information or may
leave out information that is imperative to the progression of a text. Usually, unreliable narrators
reveal the truth or truths of their story, primarily fiction, most likely in the conclusion of the story.

Perspective is the key to a story’s narrative. The narrator’s perspective can affect how the
characters are perceived by readers along with whether the narrator has an omnipotent or
limited viewpoint. Certain narrators can use their perspective to even impact the setting to
emphasize how the setting contributes to the narrator’s perception or the character’s
development. For example, if a narrator is establishing characters that were raised in the slums
of a city the narrator might describe the setting with diction that may tell the audience that the
characters are growing in an unreliable environment. Perspective could turn a predicament in a
story’s flow into a new way of understanding for the audience.

The development of perspective is undeniable in “The Yellow Wallpaper” as the narrator dives
into insanity. Namely, the narrator’s first impression of the wallpaper was that she “never saw a
worse paper in my life.”(Gilman). Moreover, she then began to use a variety of diction to
elaborate on the “hideous” wallpaper which then escalated to a wicked depiction of the
wallpaper. Precisely, The narrator stated that “There is one marked peculiarity about this paper,
a thing nobody seems to notice but myself, and that is that it changes as the light changes.
When the sun shoots in through the east window--I always watch for that first long, straight ray--
it changes so quickly that I never can quite believe it. That is why I watch it always.”(Gilman).
The narrator claims to see something “nobody seems to notice” but herself and then
emphasizes how the “moon shines in all night when there is a moon--I wouldn't know it was the
same paper.At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by
moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as
can be.”(Gilman). Originally, the narrator’s view of the wallpaper was that it was “the worst
paper” she ever saw but then her perspective fell into chaos as she mentioned how the
wallpaper “changes as the light changes”. As the narrator’s perspective of the wallpaper
changes so does the reader’s view of the wallpaper. Perspective can transform a simple
wallpaper to a thing that is other-worldly.

Author’s serve as the puppeteer that dangle the threads of the narrator. A story’s course can
alter abruptly if the author feels a different emotion about a certain segment of a literary text or
takes a varying stance. As a result, It then is up to the reader to either grow into the new
direction or stay with their perception that the author creates through the narrator as the
catalyst. Readers have a lot of flexibility and freedom in most passages to make their own
interpretations of a reading but some narrators construct a story with a collective and singular
view that many readers are conveyed to. Narrators have as much sway over a reading as the
reader. Taking charge of one’s thoughts about a text allows readers to plunge into another level
of comprehension and literary understanding.

The speaker, that are narrators, is the one commonality that all authors share no matter their
theme, approach, or style. It’s the one thing that ties all of literature together into a collective
bookshelf of varying author personas written on paper. Understanding a narrator’s perspective
is the same as following the author’s train of thought and or ideology.

In summation, narrators, created by authors, can envelop readers into a perspective steered by
story progression and the storyteller’s willingness to reveal relevant information at pivotal literary
moments.

Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Perfection Learning, 2001.

Ellison, Ralph. “The Black Ball.” The Black Ball, by Ralph Ellison, Penguin, 2018, pp. 115–
124.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins., and Dale M. Bauer. The Yellow Wallpaper: Charlotte Perkins
Gilman. Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1998.

Munro, Alice. The Progress of Love: the New Collection of Stories. McClelland and
Stewart, 1986.