Point of View

Point of view is described in A Handbook to Literature as "The vantage point from which an author presents a story. Many novels feature multiple points of view.

One can describe point of view from two angles:

Expression of viewpoint

first person
third person subjective
third person omniscient
third person subjective/multiple viewpoints
third person objective

Location of viewpoint:

a major character
a minor character
an omniscient narrator

Let's examine these manifestations of point of view more closely.

First Person Point of View

A story told in the first person point of view is told by a character within the story.

The first person can be a major character (Huck in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) or a minor character (Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby).

The narrator may or may not be reliable.

Third Person Points of View

In a story told in the third person, the author tells the story. Authors can choose to limit themselves to one or a handful of points of view or can choose to be omniscient.

In third person subjective point of view, also called third person limited, the story that unfolds is limited to what a particular character knows or observes. The author is free to reveal what the viewpoint character is thinking or feeling.

In third person subjective multiple viewpoints, the author will tell parts of the story from the points of view of different characters and will be free to reveal what the point of view character is thinking and feelings.

Many murder mysteries use the third person subjective multiple viewpoint; the story is told in alternating chapters, one from the point of view of the hero and the other from the point of view of the murderer. Thus the reader is aware of events and motivations that the hero must work to uncover.

In third person omniscient point of view, the story is told from the author's point of view. The author feels free to describe the story from the vantage point of any character in the story. The author might get inside the heads of any of the characters. The author might tell the reader of events and motivations unknown to the characters. The author also might directly address the reader.

Third person objective point of view is also referred to as the camera's eye because in this point of view the narrator describes only what can be seen, not what is going on inside the heads of the characters.

Readers often take point of view for granted and fail to consider how a novel might be different if told from a different point of view. For example, The Color Purple by Alice Walker is told from the point of view of the protagonist Celie. The story would have been significantly different if told by her abusive husband Mister.

Novelists consciously choose point of view. Understanding why a story is told from a particular point of view provides the reader with insight into the intent of the story.

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