Life As A Narrative Analysis

A “narrative” is defined as being a “written or spoken account of connected events” (“Narrative”). Narratives can take many forms. For instance, in english class many of the short stories we read are narratives. However, a movie, a television show or a song, could also be a narrative. Even our lives can be considered our own personal narratives in which we are the writer, the main character and often times the reader.
“Life as a Narrative” demonstrates how certain events, both minor and major, can alter the course of the story. In our own life narratives we are the main character but in another person’s narrative we may be just a guest appearance in a particular episode of their life (Gobodo-Madikizela and van der Merwe 4). This effects the …show more content…
This is an example of the bias that can be found in narratives. Of course, he feels more affectionate about the South than the North because the South is his home and it is where he feels most comfortable and so far his only experiences in the North, that he documents, are bad ones, the cold winters and the absence of familiarity (Rucker). To the narrator the south is a representation of being home, with loved ones, essentially being free of troubles and worries. He tells the story of his journey home and hope for reuniting with the love of his life. This is probably why the song creates such a warm feeling for those who hear it. However, this song displays how challenging it would be to live in the North after growing up in the South. The song brings up the controversial issues that divide the south. The north and south are very different environments and contain two very different cultures. There has always been a sort of separation between the north and the south, due to both location and belief systems. Everything from religion to politics to traditions differ between the north and the south. They share the same history but with different perspectives on most events. This dates back to before the Civil War, an event that can serve as a communal historical trauma that shaped the development of the United States. Moving far away from home to anywhere would make someone homesick, but moving somewhere that is almost completely opposite of what you 're used to would be very overwhelming. The narrator says the “north country winters keep a-getting me down,” which displays the challenges he 's had adjusting and makes perfectly good sense