Comparing Princess Bride And The Bad Beginnings

Novelists make various decisions when writing, but two decisions that can have a significant effect is the narrative point of view and narrative voice. Narrative point of view being who tells the story, while narrative voice is how the narrator communicates the story to the reader. As shown in Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, the narrator Death has a unique background and way of speaking to the reader. In William Goldman’s Princess Bride, the narrator’s respect to time makes the reader feel close to the action, while still remaining omniscient. Also, in The Bad Beginnings, by Lemony Snicket, the narrator is first person, but tells the story from the periphery, without being involved in the action or plot. A differing example of a distinct narrative voice is present in The …show more content…
Anne Frank writes to her diary, instead of to the reader, and this creates a contrasting delivery of plot. A novelist’s decision on the narrative point of view and voice has a profound effect on the way the plot is delivered and creating a distinct narrator will create a more memorable story. The decision taken by authors when deciding the narrator’s background and place in the novel can often have a significant effect on the reader’s perception of the plot and characters. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak uses Death as a narrator. In the novel The Princess Bride by William Goldman, the narrator is third person omniscient which is not original by itself, but the way the author uses this narrator is. The narrator choice of The Book Thief is unique and establishes many themes that can not be made by any other narrator. Death’s narrative voice is unique because of his inhuman identity, giving the reader perspective of humankind from the outside. An example from the text is, “They[birds] circled somehow, attracted to the glow-until they came too close to the heat. Or was it the humans? Certainly, the heat was nothing.” (Zusak 112). The perception of human