Monday 29 April 2024

Skip's And Yvonne's POVs

The Byworlder, X.

Yvonne and Skip:

"...walked out hand in hand. She knew that if he hailed a taxi and they snogged on the way to Watts Towers, she would share his bed. But that didn't occur to him. His merriment on the shuttlecar suggested to her that she might anyhow." (p. 98)

In this paragraph of four sentences, the first sentence is objective. The second and fourth definitely express Yvonne's point of view (pov): "She knew...," "...suggested to her..." The third sentence reads as if it expresses Skip's pov: "...didn't occur to him." However, it would be unusual for Poul Anderson to change the pov for a single sentence in mid-paragraph. Does the third sentence mean that Yvonne could see that "...that didn't occur to him"? That would explain why, in the fourth sentence, it is suggested to her that she might share his bed anyhow.

Pov copping helps us to analyse texts minutely.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And Yvonne was overthinking all this! But overthinking tends to be a weakness of intense types. Like me! (Laughs)

Ad astra! Sean