("pov" = point of view.)
I said before that Svoboda remains the viewpoint character in section 5. Careful reading confirms this. A single sentence:
"Svoboda was glad to oblige." (p. 126)
- is ambiguous. It could mean either that Svoboda felt glad (Svoboda's pov) or that he was visibly glad and obliging as observed by his companion (Coffin's pov). However, the immediately preceding sentence is:
"Coffin seemed eager to talk impersonally." (ibid.)
Here we are not told directly what Coffin wanted (Coffin's pov) but what he seemed (to someone else) to want (Svoboda's pov). And this confirms that "Svoboda was glad..." is also Svoboda's pov.
A friend who reads a lot of fiction told me that he never notices points of view but surely he must be aware of them without realizing that he is?
All of this matters. When two people, A and B, disagree and argue about what happened during an incident at which both were present, they can be insufficiently aware of the distinctions between (i) A's pov, (ii) B's pov and (iii) the total event which is more complex than either person's perceptions. Communication can fail completely. How often does this happen?
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Any halfway competently written story or novel with multiple characters will, of course, have multiple POVs. That would seem very hard not to notice.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
A short story, even with a large cast, is more likely to have only a single pov with the multiple characters presented as perceived by only one character. A novel has more room for different povs either in separate chapters or in clearly separated narrative passages within a chapter.
How it is done depends on the skill of the author. However, the shorter the text, the less scope there is for changes of pov. But, if an author can break the usual rules of thumb and make that work, then good for him.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, what you said about short stories. But any short stories with characters speaking or acting in ways different from that of the viewpoint character is obviously going to show those other characters as having different POVs. That still seems obvious to me.
Ad astra! Sean
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