Ask any author what the most important aspect of their work is (whether that be fiction or not) and they will all probably say the same four things: plot, setting, characters, and narration. This is also true for the three novels we have studied thus far in class: Vathek, The Castle of Otranto, and The Mysteries of Udolpho. The dark ‘gloomth’ setting, the larger-than-life characters, and the supernaturally centered plot lines all make these books Gothic novels, but how would one characterize the narrators? If there is anything that these three novels we have studied thus far have in common, it is that each of them have a third person narrator. Andrew Vachss, an American crime fiction author, once said that “The third person narrator, instead of being omniscient, is like a constantly running surveillance tape.” Perhaps, this is why the authors of these works chose to write in the third person; to make a novel that is usually categorized by descriptions of the larger scale, more eerie and unattainably larger than life. Each of these novels are full of supernatural elements and perhaps what makes them all the more paranormally mysterious is that they are not seen by the reader from a single character’s point of view, but more of an overhead narrator who gives the reader a larger view of the story and situation along with a more enigmatic interpretation. What makes the narrator mysterious? Perhaps it is the fact that we as the readers do not know exactly who he or she is, or maybe it is because the third person point of view seems more foreboding. Whichever the case, it is an effective addition to the grandeur scale of the novel that the author is trying to implore.
The third person narratives of the two novels that will be revie...
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...e story.
In conclusion, the third person narrative adds more mystery and intrigue to Gothic novels, especially in Vathek and The Mysteries of Udolpho simply because the reader is not seeing or hearing the story from a first-hand account. This adds to the overall terror of the stories because the character cannot see the true intentions within the villains’ or even the hero’s hearts. Because of this, it enhances the grandeur of the story and creates more urgent feeling to the characters’ plights.
Works Cited
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“Why Western History Matters” is an essay adapted from a speech Donald Kagan delivered to the National Association of Scholars, and was reprinted in the December 28, 1994, issue of the Wall Street Journal. Throughout Kagan’s essay, he describes the essential need for the college course, Western History. He does so by examining older cultures and explaining why they were quintessential to the past and to our future development as a society. I strongly concur with Kagan’s standpoint of the necessity of history, and the realization of how exactly our flourishing society came about. History is a key constituent in determining who we are; for to determine who we are one must first know from whence they came. In the words of George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
Loewen, J. W. (1995). Lies my teacher told me, everything your American history textbook got wrong. New York: New Press, The.
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Unfortunately, American history does have a habit of covering up its history for the sake of offering its younger generations a progress model. In a book titled Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen shows how the progress model mode of history telling has covered up many important events in American history to the point that children in public education are graduating high school with extremely warped views of history.
As the first chapter in this long analytical book, chapter one serves as the foundation for the rest of the novel, with a basic premise that “history textbooks make fool out of the students.” It shows how portrayal of historical figures and events in the best light for the reputation of United States leads to biased and distorted historical education.
Loewen, James. Lies My Techer Told Me; Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. 60-169.
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This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans. Historically, American students are taught from a single perspective, that being the American perspective. This approach to history (the single perspective) dehumanizes the enemy and glorifies the Americans. We tend to forget that those on the opposing side are also human.
Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. "1989." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 1874-1880. World History in Context. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.