Literature provides a lens through which the readers will experience the story. Point of view is the narrator's position throughout the story being told. Point of view comes in three different forms; first-person, second-person, and third-person. Also, in third-person, the narrator can be limited or omniscient. Often times authors manipulate the reader's thoughts or emotions through point of view. In Raymond Carver's “Cathedral” and Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”, both authors use point of view effectively to allow the reader into the characters thoughts.
In the short story “Cathedral”, Carter uses a first-person point of view because the narrator is describing an experience in his life. By doing this the reader is able to know the …show more content…
After Mrs.Mallard received the news that her husband had died she goes upstairs alone, this means that only the reader knows what she is thinking and not the rest of the characters. Chopin’s narrator states, ‘“When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free” (654). This point of view enables the reader to know that Mrs.Mallard feels free now that her husband is dead, something the reset of the characters do not know. The use of third-person narrative also allows the reader to feel sympathetic towards Mr.Mallard. The narrator, for example, asserts, “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her” (653). This idea of something trying to posses Mrs.Mallard makes it seems like she is not at fault because these feeling are chasing her down. Additionally, the narrator states, “ She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will - as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” (654). The unnamed narrator reinforces the idea that Mrs.Mallard is not at fault, she is
In the short story “Cathedral”, Carter uses a first-person point of view because the narrator is describing an experience in his life. By doing this the reader is able to know the …show more content…
After Mrs.Mallard received the news that her husband had died she goes upstairs alone, this means that only the reader knows what she is thinking and not the rest of the characters. Chopin’s narrator states, ‘“When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free” (654). This point of view enables the reader to know that Mrs.Mallard feels free now that her husband is dead, something the reset of the characters do not know. The use of third-person narrative also allows the reader to feel sympathetic towards Mr.Mallard. The narrator, for example, asserts, “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her” (653). This idea of something trying to posses Mrs.Mallard makes it seems like she is not at fault because these feeling are chasing her down. Additionally, the narrator states, “ She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will - as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” (654). The unnamed narrator reinforces the idea that Mrs.Mallard is not at fault, she is