NARRATION AND POINT OF VIEW

The Stories of The Cask of Amontillado, A Rose for Emily, and The Thing in the Forest

Emma Stevens

David “Henry” Herman

Alexandra Handle

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO

By Edgar Allen Poe

THE JOURNEY INTO THE DEPTHS

Montresor lures the aptly named Fortunato into his family crypt with the promise of tasting fine wine.

Little does Fortunato know that Montresor has planned his demise, for insults to the Montresor family.

MONTRESOR & FORTUNATO

MontresorA mentally unstable man,

Montresor narrates this story for us. He begins by telling of the insult and injuries he has borne from

Fortunato. He vows to have vengeance, although never elaborates on what offenses

Fortunato committed.

By bricking Fortunato up in his family vault and leaving him to die of starvation and dehydration, he cements the perception that he is,

in fact, insane.

NarrationSince Montresor is the narrator for

this story and it is immediately apparent that he is not in his right mind, it is easy to say that he is

an unreliable narrator.

The first person point of view narration makes it difficult for the

reader to truly understand and view Fortunato without bias.

FortunatoFortunato, dressed in fool’s garb

for the festival, has a penchant for wine. Upon learning that

Montresor has acquired some Amontillado, he is easily lured to his untimely death. He is foolish not only in his dress, but in his

inability to see Montresor’s madness.

His large ego and state of inebriation serve to be his

ultimate downfall.

A ROSE FOR EMILY

By William Faulkner

While there is still much speculation on who exactly the narrator is, we can discern they are part of the town in which Emily lives.

The narrator also seems to be believable, if not reliable. While parts of the story are told second-hand, they are not outlandish or wild.

Through the limited perspective, and the pronoun use of “we”, “they”, and “she”, the POV is

first person plural.

Emily, and the other townspeople, are deeply colored by their historical surroundings. The social etiquette and small town setting of the American South, shortly after the Civil War allows the plot to move, and a specific characterization to happen.

The small town setting allows for all the townspeople not only to know who Emily is -something that could not be done with a larger cast- but to have respect for her and her family. She garners enough respect that everyone attends her funeral, she is allowed to forego taxes by the local authorities, and they wait until she is in the ground before opening the bedroom door in which hides her secret.

All of the characters act and speak in a way that is unique to the post-Civil War era in the South, because they are affected by the historical context.

THE THING IN THE FOREST

By A.S. Byatt

Faced with a deep, dark forest, Penny and primrose escape into their imaginations….

Where Primrose sees mysteryAnd finds adventure

Penny finds reality, And, in doing so, loses a bit of mystery

TOLD FROM THE THIRD PERSON SUBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW

Although this story is somewhat of a ‘fairy tale’, Byatt’s narrator presents the account with a touch of realism,

stating how the young girls “saw” a thing in the forest.

Historical context gives us our setting, a ‘world’ set apart from the war; a place that will keep our characters safe and offer them an

opportunity to use their imaginations.

Narration allows us to be with Penny and Primrose at crucial times in their lives, and each of their memories of ‘the thing’ affects

both how they mature and their views of the world.

As they age, the memories of their youth, both horrifyingly real and fantastically imagined, determine who they are,

And instill in each a desire to find the child they left behind.

“War is not about a man’s heroic contest with a Loathly Worm, nor perhaps was it ever so simple a thing, even symbolically”

Byatt uses fantastical descriptions combined with purely Objective narrative to construct her tale, and we are tasked to find her

moral.

• Narrator is believable, if not reliable

• Historical context is vital• POV: First Person Plural• Passive narrator

• Narrator is reliable• Historical context is vital• POV: Third Person

Subjective• Passive narrator

• Narrator is unreliable• Historical context is less

important• POV: First Person

Narrative• Active narrator

A Rose for Emily

The Thing in the ForestThe Cask of Amontillado

Both A Rose for Emily and The Cask of Amontillado feature the first person point of view, however while one narrator is telling their own story, the other is telling the story of someone else. This distinction, coupled with the actions of the narrator make the difference between reliable and unreliable narrators.

Both The Cask of Amontillado and The Thing in the Forest feature characters that are deeply affected by their experiences in their respective stories. The key difference between these stories is the active/passive narrators and characters.

Both The Thing in the Forest and A Rose for Emily feature believable, passive narrators and a historical

context that is vital to the characterization and plot of the

stories. While both stories, upon first look, seem to be told in the third person, when examined closer A

Rose for Emily is in told in the first person.

When comparing all of these stories, we see that regardless of the details that categorize

them, the narrator and point of view are some of the most important elements in creating a

story, and that regardless of details it is possible to create a suspenseful story, full of

round, dynamic characters.

WORKS CITED

Byatt, A.S. “The Thing in the Forest”. Little Black Book of Stories, 2003. Web. Sept. 29, 2014.

CreativeShadows Blog. “A chillingly human tale for Halloween-A.S. Byatt’s The Thing in the Forest”. WordPress.com. Oct 9, 2012. Web. Sept 29, 2014.

Images. “The Thing in the Forest”, A.S.Byatt, Google.com. 2014. Web. Oct. 03, 2014.

SOURCES

Pictures Found

Rose Background

Single Rose

Emily Grierson and Skeleton

Text Citation

Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. Ed. Peter Simon. Shorter 10th ed. N.p.: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 391-97. Print.

WORKS CITED

THE THING IN THE FOREST BY A.S. BYATTA ROSE FOR EMILY BY WILLIAM FAULKNER

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO BY EDGAR ALLEN POE