“When we see a natural style, we are astonished and delighted; for we expected to see an author, and we find a man.” (Blaise Pascal). Writing style is the way a text is written to portray the author’s message to the audience. The Reader portrays the struggle of post Third Reich generations coming to terms with Nazi war crimes, by effectively using a unique writing style. Bernard Schlink uses first-person point-of-view, clear and descriptive language, short chapters, metaphors and various tones.
The Reader is written in the first-person point of view, Schlink's style is sparse and his language is simple. Michael Berg, the protagonist, is also the narrator of the book. In the final chapter Michael Berg declares to be the author of the autobiographical text as proven in the following passage.
“Soon after her death, I decided to write the story of me and Hanna, since then I’ve done it many times in my head, each time a little differently, each time with new images, and new strands of action and thought.” (Schlink 216)
The use of first person as a fictional autobiography gives the story a realistic tone. Michael Berg is a sympathetic character even though he is not, in numerous ways, a particularly likable character to the readers and his true love Hanna Schmitz. Michael Berg is an inward looking, cold, and reserved character. Nonetheless, the way The Reader is put together allows Michael to present himself in a favorable position to the readers. The character of Hanna Schmitz is also of interest since she is an illiterate Nazi war criminal, and she is constructed to be somewhat sympathetic, since access to her is controlled entirely from Michael's viewpoint.
Through analyzing part one of the reader it is imperative that...
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...n that this story is merely fiction is almost heart shattering. “Soon after her death, I decided to write the story of me and Hanna. Since then I’ve done it many times in my head, each time a little differently, each time with new images, and new strands of action and thought.” (216) The characters that once seemed so real are just figments of the author’s imagination.
The author uses a first person writing style to give the audience a character's perspective, which better influences how the novel is perceived by the audience. Schlink's writing style reflects the concept of the novel by using various tones to express the emotions of the characters and to illustrate the novel from Michael Berg's perspective. Benhard Schlink's writing style was an effective way to capture the audience because he used clear language and the chapters were short, but very descriptive.
The whole book is written as a first person narrative except for one short part that Rahim Khan is narrating. The book is told in first person by the main character Amir. The example shows that the story is told in first person because the author uses the word “I” and explains what Amir is thinking in his own mind which can only be done in first person narrative.
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
In this day and age, writing is being portrayed through various mediums, such as film and television. Some of those portrayals depict writing as both good and bad depending on the situation that is present. Authors such as, by E. Shelley Reid, Kevin Roozen, and Anne Lamott all write about important writing concepts that are being depicted in films, like Freedom Writers. The film Freedom Writers shows a positive and accurate portrayal of writing in the sense that the writers should have a connection to what they are writing about, writing is a form of communication, and that writing does not have to be perfect the first time.
Alison Bechdel isn’t a normal author. She uses graphics, and wordplay to tell a very engaging, and interesting story. One of these stories titled “The Ordinary Devoted Mother”, Bechdel tells the story of her trying to write a memoir about her mom. One of the major themes in this story is reading, and writing. Bechdel explores what writing is, how it is important, and how she perceives writing herself.
The novel begins with the author, Kurt Vonnegut, relating the story of how he and a friend returned to Dresden, the site of the most devastating firebombing in all of World War Two. This introduction, which is really the first chapter of the book, is written in first person as Vonnegut injects himself into a mostly fictional story. There are a few instances whereupon the author mentions himself being part of the action, but other than the first and last chapters, the book is mostly written in third person and tells the story of the fictional character, Billy.
Peters almost dismissal through the closing of his eyes of Anna’s love for story making allows for a distancing and ultimately a deep seeded feeling of isolation and disunity.
...st person. The narrator is looking back on this story and remembering things from a child’s point of view. The reader only sees the narrator’s opinion in the story, but that allows the reader to have his own opinions as well, questioning the literary work constantly. This makes the story more complex and permits the reader to wonder what is going on inside each of the characters’ heads.
Roth uses a series of flashbacks in order to convey a sense of chaos. Flashbacks are set within flashbacks and "the central plot- what happens to the Swede [and his family]- is set among smaller... subplots or partial plots- [what happens to the Swede's brother, their parents, and the narrator]" (). The novel begins at a 45th high school reunion attended by the narrator, Nathan Zuckerman. At this reunion in 1995, Zuckerman meets one of his old classmates Jerry Levov, who tells him about his recently deceased older brother Swede Levov. Jerry informs Zuckerman about the Swede's traumatic life after his daughter's involvement in the Vietnam anti war movement and the rest of the novel is compiled of Zuckerman's posthumous recreation of the Swede's life. As Zuckerman gets into the Swede's story, it appears as if everything is from the point of view of the Swede, whether it's reading about his thoughts as he watches an action, his emotions as he recounts an event or his tortured mind as he flashes back and re lives an event. These flashbacks and transitions from the reunion to the scenes in the Swede's life to the Swedes t...
At the outset, Atwood gives the reader an exceedingly basic outline of a story with characters John and Mary in plotline A. As we move along to the subsequent plots she adds more detail and depth to the characters and their stories, although she refers back with “If you want a happy ending, try A” (p.327), while alluding that other endings may not be as happy, although possibly not as dull and foreseeable as they were in plot A. Each successive plot is a new telling of the same basic story line; labeled alphabetically A-F; the different plots describe how the character’s lives are lived with all stories ending as they did in A. The stories tell of love gained or of love lost; love given but not reciprocated. The characters experience heartache, suicide, sadness, humiliation, crimes of passion, even happiness; ultimately all ending in death regardless of “the stretch in between”. (p.329)
...s a clone in order for readers to understand as they see the end of her lives as well as her friends’ lives ending. Kathy is engaged in the difficulty of understand life in order to comfort themselves, even if she has to lie in order to discover the truth. Kathy speaking about her life when she is older, signifies that she wants to be felt important and have her own impact to others lives in some way. In depicting the dynamics of memory, Kathy rewrites their past so they can have access to her identity. However, memory can be twisted so easily that she hides the failure in her life by bending the truth of what happened. Ishiguro explores the profound effect of memory in a manner in which it shapes one’s life as well as how humans subject events incoherently. That, like unreliable narrators, individuals often ‘lie’ to themselves in order to cover up the actual truth.
“In my estimation a good book first must contain little or no trace of the author unless the author himself is a character. That is, when I read the book I should not feel that someone is telling me the story but t...
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
In the 1950s, authors tended to follow common themes, these themes were summed up in an art called postmodernism. Postmodernism took place after the Cold War, themes changed drastically, and boundaries were broken down. Postmodern authors defined themselves by “avoiding traditional closure of themes or situations” (Postmodernism). Postmodernism tends to play with the mind, and give a new meaning to things, “Postmodern art often makes it a point of demonstrating in an obvious way the instability of meaning (Clayton)”. What makes postmodernism most unique is its unpredictable nature and “think o...
What is writing style? I started out thinking that writing style is a personal thing and that all writers have their own style. But, this way of thinking is really just a simple way to answer the question. After more careful thought, I realized that style is actually quite the opposite of personal and original. Style is a form of standardization. As writers, we all follow certain rules and guidelines to make our point. Style is these rules and guidelines.
In conclusion, the author’s choice of utilizing the third person narration is what provided the high level of ignorance, as the voice concentrated on the protagonist husband. It brought the reader to the place of how inadequately the husband treated the wife and how he was oblivious of how his actions affected her. The reader is also able to envision that the protagonist is not cognizant that he is not being truthful to himself. It permits the reader to realize the how boring, prideful, thoughtless, and insensitive the protagonist is overall.