Theory of Character Review of Related Theories
narrative modes, third person point of view, first person point of view, and second person point of view.
In a third person point of view, the narrator can be seen as someone from outside the story who addresses the characters by name or pronoun he, she, and
they. Third person point of view can be classified into two more style by characteristics. First is the Omniscient third person point of view. According to
Abrams 1999, Omniscient third person point of view is a characteristic of third person point of view that focuses on the god-like narrator. It means that the narrator
knows everything about the story, and the characters. Second style is limited point of view. “The narrator tells the story in the third person, but stays inside the confines
of what is perceived, thought, remembered, and felt by a single character or at most by very few character within the story.” Abrams, 1999:232-233
In the first person point of view, the narrator speaks as “I” in the story and considered having a weaker kno
wledge of the story. “This mode insofar as it is consistently carried out, limits the matter of the narrative to what the first person
narrator knows experiences, infers, or can find out by talking to other characters.” Abrams, 1999:233-234.
Finally, in the second person point of view, the narrator is addressed throughout the story by using second pronoun “you”.
“This second person may turn out to be a specific fictional character, or the reader of the story, or even the narrator himself
or herself, or not clearly or consistently the one or the other; and the story may unfold by shifting between telling the narratee
what he or she is now doing, has done in the past, or will or is commanded to do in the future.” Abrams, 1999:234
According to Abrams 1999, this form of narration can be seen quite often in some traditional fictions, or passages in the Bible. However, this narrative style is
rarely used in modern fiction.