The Role Of The Narrator

Espinosa
  Iván
 Andrés
 Espinosa
 Orozco
 
 
  Communication
 and
 Self-­‐Awareness:
 The
 Role
 of
 the
 Narrator
 as
 a
 Major
 Character
 
  In
 a
 novel,
 the
 use
 of
 the
 narrator
 helps
 the
 reader
 analyze
 the
 point
 of
 view
 of
 the
  author,
 since
 it gives
 the
 reader
  a
 clue
 of
 how
 the
 events
 happened
 in
 a
 specific
 order,
 in
  order
 to
 apprehend
 the
 whole
 essence
 of
 the
 story.
 The
 knowledge
 of
 the
 narrator
 can
 vary
  from
  the
  experience
  and
  the
  participation
  it
  takes
  within
  the
 novel,
  not
  only
  narrating
  different
  actions,
  but
  also
  leading
  the
  reader’s
  connection
  with
  the
  story
  while
  reading.
  However,
 in
 novels
 as
 The
 Life
 and
 Opinions
 of
 Tristram
 Shandy,
 Gentleman
 by
 Sterne
 and
  Wuthering
  Heights
  by
  Brontë,
 this
  spirit
  can
  become
  confusing
  for
  the
  reader
  when
  the
  narrator
 acquires
 self-­‐awareness
 about
 his
 function
 in
 the
 novel
 and
 starts
 establishing
 a
  real
  contact
  -­‐written
  and
  eventually
  read-­‐
  with
  the
  reader
  that
  paradoxically
  makes
 him
  have
  more
  elements
  to
  hesitate
  and
  more
  points
  to
  think
  about
  in
  order
  to
  get
  full
  understanding
 while
 reading.
  The
  first
  element
  to
  analyze
  the
  narrator’s
  implication
  to
  the
  story
  and
  self-­‐ awareness
 with
 their
 job
 in the
 novels
 cited
 above
 should
 be
 the
 way
 in
 which
 the
 author
  sets
  the
  narration
  of
  the
  story
  from
  its
  beginning.
  Both
  novels
  start
  with
  the
  same
  word.
  In
  Sterne’s
 words:
 
  I
  Wish
  whether
  my
  father
  or
  my
  mother,
 or
  indeed
  both
  of
  them,
  as
  they
  were
  in
  duty
  both
  equally
  bound
  to
  it,
  had
  minded
  what
  they
  were
  about
  when
  they
  begot
  me;
  had
  they
  duly
  consider’d
  how
  much
  depended
  upon
  what
 they
 were
 doing
 (…)
 (6).
 
  In  the
  same
  way,
  Brontë
  starts
  her
  novel
  with
  “1801-­‐
  I
  have
  just
  returned
  from
  a
  visit
  to
  my
  landlord
  –
  the
  solitary
  neighbour
  that
  I
  shall
  be
  troubled
  with.”
  (25)
  Then,
  both
  novels
  suggest
  a
  sort
  of
  distance  between
  the
  “narrator”
  –who,
  at
  this
  point
  has
  not
  clearly
  shown
 his
 intentions
 of
 telling
 a
 story
 to
 another
 person-­‐
 and
 the
 eventual
 reader,
 due
 to
  the
 fact
 that
 Shandy’s
 first
 words
 seem
 to
 be
 an
 autobiographical
 play
 with
 an unspecified
  reader,
  and
  Brontë’s
  opening
  sentence
  in
  Wuthering
  Heights
  does
  not
  propose
  a
  direct
  dialogue
 between
 the
 person
 who
 wrote
 and
 the
 audience
 who
 is
 reading.
 
 

Espinosa
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