3. Theory – Voice

Voice

● Reliability

Narrators don’t always tell the truth, especially if their perspective is limited. As such, you  should be picking up clues as you read to judge whether a character should be trusted or  sympathised with.

● Objectivity

Not all narrators are objective either! Like any normal person, they can be blinded by certain  prejudices or misconceptions. As readers, we shouldn’t only see past these judgements, but we  should also understand why the narrator holds them in the first place.

● Omniscience 

Omniscience refers to the extent that the narrator is aware of the thoughts and views of more  than one character. If the narrator only knows their own thoughts, they are limited; if they know  everyone’s thoughts, they are omniscient. Limited perspective narrators can only interpret what  other characters are thinking from what they do or say, but omniscient narration can use various  characters’ viewpoints to advance the story.

● Free indirect discourse

Free indirect discourse is third-person narration that slips in and out of one character’s limited  perspective and omniscient narration. It is a useful technique which can provide background  information on the setting and circumstances, but also let us enter a character’s mind and  sympathise with them.

● Stream of consciousness 

Stream of consciousness was a technique developed by Modernist prose writers. It seeks to  capture and find meaning in the entirety of mundane human experience, and is essentially the  uninterrupted internal monologue of a character—including their thoughts, actions, and random  sidetracked thoughts. Famous examples include Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and Ulysses by James Joyce, both novels which capture an entire day through stream of consciousness.