Effective Use of Point of View in Harry Chapin’s “30,000 Pounds of Bananas”
In Harry Chapin’s 1974 release of “30,000 Pounds of Bananas” on his Verities & Balderdash album, Chapin employs the use of a first person perspective with the focus on a different subject quite effectively to describe clearly to the listener such things as plot, character traits, and setting. The song depicts an inexperienced semi-truck driver’s death in a crash while hauling 30,000 pounds of bananas to Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is told through the eyes of a traveler who is also currently riding through Scranton on a bus. Most of the story seems to be in third person, as the traveler is narrating the events that happened to the truck driver, but nearing the end …show more content…
First, the narrator sets the stage of the accident quite clearly, describing the city of Scranton, the hill that ended in tragedy for the driver, and even the damages the truck caused while barreling down the hill. He also adds character traits to the driver, giving him words and thoughts even though he couldn’t actually know what he was saying or thinking about at the time. Chapin writes that, “he was thinking perhaps about the warm-breathed woman who was waiting at the journey’s end,” and says the driver calls out, “Christ!” Both of these ideas help to create a feeling of empathy toward the driver on the reader’s part. Another positive aspect of this point of view is the narrator’s ability to go beyond the events of that day, and continue the story into the future, a luxury Chapin wouldn’t have had if he had made the point of view that of the driver’s. This ability is especially important with regards to the woman in the story, because at the end of the live version, Chapin goes on to finish the tale with a sleeping child and the mourning lover of the driver who still lives in Scranton, but “never eats… bananas.” With all the different accounts the narrator has heard, he is able to communicate a complete story for the listener, even though since the driver was alone at the time of the accident, no one could really know what actually
In Harry Chapin’s 1974 release of “30,000 Pounds of Bananas” on his Verities & Balderdash album, Chapin employs the use of a first person perspective with the focus on a different subject quite effectively to describe clearly to the listener such things as plot, character traits, and setting. The song depicts an inexperienced semi-truck driver’s death in a crash while hauling 30,000 pounds of bananas to Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is told through the eyes of a traveler who is also currently riding through Scranton on a bus. Most of the story seems to be in third person, as the traveler is narrating the events that happened to the truck driver, but nearing the end …show more content…
First, the narrator sets the stage of the accident quite clearly, describing the city of Scranton, the hill that ended in tragedy for the driver, and even the damages the truck caused while barreling down the hill. He also adds character traits to the driver, giving him words and thoughts even though he couldn’t actually know what he was saying or thinking about at the time. Chapin writes that, “he was thinking perhaps about the warm-breathed woman who was waiting at the journey’s end,” and says the driver calls out, “Christ!” Both of these ideas help to create a feeling of empathy toward the driver on the reader’s part. Another positive aspect of this point of view is the narrator’s ability to go beyond the events of that day, and continue the story into the future, a luxury Chapin wouldn’t have had if he had made the point of view that of the driver’s. This ability is especially important with regards to the woman in the story, because at the end of the live version, Chapin goes on to finish the tale with a sleeping child and the mourning lover of the driver who still lives in Scranton, but “never eats… bananas.” With all the different accounts the narrator has heard, he is able to communicate a complete story for the listener, even though since the driver was alone at the time of the accident, no one could really know what actually