Exploring Different Perspectives: Understanding Point of View

Point of view is defined as the viewpoint a story is told from. In other words, it is who tells the story. Is it the main character, God, a third party (limited or all-knowing)? Each of the types of point of view is quite different, and each impacts the way a story is told.
Firstly, one type of point of view is first person. In first person point of view, the main character tells the story. They cannot enter the minds of other characters, so the story is told only from their view. This allows you to see from their eyes very easily. For example, “A&P” is told from first person point of view; the reader is able to see very clearly how the main character (Sammy) sees the events unfold, what he thinks, and what he does afterward. John Updike, the author of “A&P,” says, “She held her head

so high her neck, coming up out of those white shoulders, looked kind of stretched, but I didn’t mind. The longer her neck was, the more of her there was (paragraph 4).” From this sentence, the reader knows not only how the girl looks, but also how Sammy feels about her appearance. First person point of view is like stepping into the main character’s shoes.
Secondly, another type of point of view is third person limited.

In third person limited, the story is told by a narrator who is not part of the story and knows only the thoughts of one character. For this reason, the reader can better understand what that one character is thinking while also seeing everything going on around them. “Miss Brill” is told in third person limited. It says in the story, “Other people sat on the benches and green chairs, but they were nearly always the same, Sunday after Sunday, and- Miss Brill had often noticed- there was something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as if they’d just come from little dark rooms or even- even cupboards (paragraph 5)!” This tells the thoughts of Miss Brill from an outside perspective, and the reader is able to not only understand her but also see what is going on around her, like the people conversing and the band playing. This person limited is like seeing the whole picture but being able to zoom in on one part, or character in this case, in order to see what they are

thinking.
Lastly, yet another type of point of view is third person omniscient. Third person omniscient, like third person limited, gives an outside view, but it also shows the thoughts of multiple characters. This gives the reader the ability to better understand the thoughts and actions of these characters. For example, “Godfather Death” is told in third person omniscient. In this story, the Grimm Brothers (the authors) tell the reader, “He should have remembered his godfather’s warning, but the princess’s great beauty and the happy prospect of becoming her husband so infatuated him that he flung all caution to the wind (paragraph 24).” They then go on to say, “But because he wanted revenge, he deliberately fumbled in placing the new candle, and the stub toppled over and went out (paragraph 32).” From these sentences, the reader knows not only how the physician felt when he saw the princess and how that affected his actions, but also how Death wanted revenge afterward and let the physician die. Third person omniscient is like being a god – you can see things from different character’s minds to understand everything that is happening.
The point of view of these stories are very different, and that difference allows the reader to understand the actions of the story differently. A story could be told from any of the types listed above. No one type of point of view is better than the others; they each have their advantages. Which one is chosen by the author is based on what vantage point the author wants the reader to see. How many ways can one story be told?