Point Of View In The Far And The Near, By Thomas Wolfe

“A Limited Perspective” Each story is told from a specific point of view. A point of view can greatly impact the beginning, climactic, or the ending of a story. For a reader to have a complete understanding of a story, the story must be told in a specific point of view. “The Far and the Near,” by Thomas Wolfe is written in a third person limited point of view. This type of point of view changes the outcome of stories dramatically due to the assumptions a reader can make about the other characters’ thoughts. These thoughts and feelings of the other characters are usually only shown at the end of the story. This causes the short story to be suspenseful. The reader gets a sense of reality in the tone of the story while reading this point of view because not all things …show more content…
When the door is answered by the mother, the man is “almost unwillingly let into the house,” and she then “called her daughter in a harsh shrill voice.” This begins to change the mood of the story drastically as the reader and retired train engineer are crushed by the non expectant disposition of the mother. The daughter and the woman both take the man into an “ugly parlor” in the assumed to be warm and welcoming house. The meeting between the man and the two woman is extremely unnerving. The man tries to talk to the two woman but they give him a dull, hostile, and suspicious looks.
This changes the entire tone and mood of the story. The man becomes uncomfortable when the women do not recognize him; despite his efforts to explain who he is and how he waved to them for so many years, they do not become friendly with the man. If the point of view had not been third person limited, the reader and the train engineer would have known that the women were not friendly. There would have been no point in trying to have a happy ending with the two seemingly kind and friendly mother and