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 Emilyfeature 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

TEXTPOE, EDGAR A. THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO. 11TH ED. NEW YORK: W.W. NORTON, 2012. 164-70. PRINT.

FAULKNER, WILLIAM. A ROSE FOR EMILY. ED. PETER SIMON. SHORTER 10TH ED. N.P.: W.W. NORTON & COMPANY, 2010. 391-97. PRINT.

BYATT, A.S. “THE THING IN THE FOREST”. LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF STORIES, 2003. WEB. SEPT. 29, 2014.

IMAGESCREATIVESHADOWS 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.

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