Tactics and Strategies Employed by Writers - Essay Example

Order 308240 Topic: Limited Narration. Introduction: A writer invariably connects his life-experiences through his characters. One will not be able to avoid this, howsoever intelligently one may try—and why should one try at all! Transplant the thought processes through the life-processes of the characters-- a good, believable and acceptable story by the readers emerges. The writer avails the help of the protagonist or the narrator to felicitate the process of building the story and such an individual is supposed to ably support other characters. The writer employs various tactics and strategies as per the demands of the situations in the story. No writer is out to reveal everything about him in such stories and makes vague attempts to be as near to the truth as is possible. A plot in the novel or short story is an intelligent combination of truthful and imaginative events and to expect honest and spiritual revelations from the characters in all the situations which they encounter in life is not feasible. Posing as a narrator, Truman Capote seems to touch the portals of truth through the main characters in his stories. The name of the narrator is not revealed and Holly Golighty refers to him as “Fred” as he looks like her brother. When admitted to the friendship of Holly, he is a budding, young writer making desperate attempts to establish himself in New York. The reader is not told much about the life of Fred apart from his association and adventures with Holly. A reader can not demand that the narration related to any character has got to be truthful. In this story the author maintains the distance between the reader and the narrator, as the latter’s name is not revealed. This kindles curiosity about that outside agency which creates situations and plays roles to handle situations. The author employs the gimmicks of pubic relations well, in developing need or desire based relationships. Each relationship has a purpose and aimed at achieving a particular goal. The most charismatic character of the story is Holly Golighty, who has the inherent tendency and capacity to develop quick rapport with men of varying tastes. Her interaction with Joe Bell, for instance! “Joe Bell hasn’t an easy nature, he admits it himself ….anyone who knows him will tell you he’s a hard man to talk to. Impossible if you don’t share his fixations, of which Holly is one.”(p.4) Welty through the voice of the narrator, portrays human compatibility and vagueness as the essential strategy for survival. The dramatic monologue in “Why I live at the P.O.” shows Sister’s emphatic first-person account of her sister’s home-coming and the subsequent self-exile at the post office falls into similar pattern like the one the reader finds in “Breakfast at Tiffany.” The Southern writer must necessarily be influenced what happened in that part of America, the social and familial conditions during the last century. She was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1909 and must have seen the worst and the best era of history of America. In such situations, adjustments and compromises, depicting falsehood as truth are commonplace. Exigencies demand it. The narrator does not openly proclaim that whatever she says is correct. But she seems to lay her hand, give her opinions, and declare whatever correct is there in the world belongs to her. The influence of the Southern-net is showing in the disposition of the narrator, and this can be related to strength as well as the weakness of the story writer. The central theme of the story is about sibling rivalry. They talk and interact like permanent enemies and the Sister strongly believes that they need to be at permanent war with each other, even on trivial issues. This adamant woman is unforgiving and seeks fructification of her life in unending quarrels within the family on all sorts of issues. The narrator ravels in ambiguity and seems to enjoy the nothingness of the situations. For the readers, truth is the casualty in their interactions, and they are confused about the many voices of the narrator in the story. The implication of narrator’s perspective and unprincipled approach to tackle the various situations baffles the reader. Welty seems to deal with Sister’s frustration with Stella-Rondo, just like a Judge readying to give the final verdict on the case after hearing the ex-parte arguments of the prosecution. She reiterates the cause of her dissatisfaction. Stella-Rondo has come home, "giving no rhyme nor reason whatsoever for [her] separation and no explanation for the presence of that child..." (54).She gives no scope for the defending characters to give their version of the happenings. She does not acknowledge the rules of fair competition. She is adamant and not willing to listen to others. This is the unfair disposition by the narrator, and to expect such an individual to be the defending champion of truth is asking for the moon. She presents solid evidence of Stella Rondo’s craftiness and her own persecution. Her dramatic monologue and arguments are forceful. Welty makes the scale of justice deliberately tilt in favor of Sister and provides the biased version of the developments. She vows that she will refuse her sister audience, should Stella-Rondo come to her "this minute, on bended knee, and attempt to explain the incidents of her life with Mr. Whitaker..." (56).Is she able to win the sympathy of the readers with her hard and uncompromising attitude? The result is counter-productive. The readers will react to her jealous denunciations, with a sense of humor, as they realize that the real story is something else. Sister asserts that whatever she believes and practices is the truth. Nothing but her point of view is correct. The wise saying goes, ‘a lie repeated thousand times from a platform becomes the truth.’ Sister seems to be committed to this view, though in a corner of the heart, she must be aware of her shortcomings. She takes hard view of every small issue and receives every comment as if it pierces her heart and she must retaliate. She seems to have no patience at all. Welty provides a character that constantly indulges in one-sided narration. Competition between the two sisters makes an imbalanced family dynamics. A Rose for Emily: Any character created by an author of fiction (story or novel) can not be compared to a Judge conducting an enquiry to submit a report to the appropriate authority, after cross-examining a number of witnesses. Within the normal disciplines of writing, without hurting the religious sentiments and without personal accusations and character assassination, one has the freedom to write. Perception is reality, in the absence of facts. If one understands this concept, it helps one to assess the short story, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. It is about the life of a whimsical and unpredictable spinster, Miss Emily Grierson. Her choices of life are difficult for the people around her, neighbors and the townspeople to understand. This is the strength of the story, though at times, the issues put before the readers in relation to Emily are wide off the mark and one finds it difficult to accept them as reality. By using the townspeople as his narrator, the author appeals to the emotions of the common folk, men and women, who engage in such gossip and immensely enjoy them. Emily’s actions kindle immense curiosity with the people because of her reclusive lifestyle. The narrator in “A Rose for Emily” shows how appearance is deceptive. Milk is white but all that is white is not milk. The author provides lots of episodes for the student of logic and the one with an investigative mind to analyze, but the common man is confused about the personality of Emily. Random events that happen in one’s life quite often transcend logic. Therefore, most of humankind lives adopting and accepting tainted reality. Lot of confusion of the townspeople about her life, is cleared after hear death. “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant---a combined gardener and cook-had seen in at least ten years.”(English HP….) Conclusion: Limited narration provides the fertile ground for the assumptions of the readers and their viewpoints differ from each other. The narrators in all the above three stories do not stand by truth at all times and will not hesitate to project own personalities and try to impose their perceptions on the readers. An intelligent reader understands all these lacunas, how the narrator is leading to mislead, but all this is part of the plot whose aim is to provide an entertaining, and at times thought-provoking ideas to the readers. What is truth? Nobody knows it, only guesswork is possible. At times, the narrator involves and imposes his thought processes to such an extent, that the reader begins to wonder whether he is reading the mind of the character or that of the narrator. This is happening in all the three stories discussed above. The narrator seems to indulge in recollections of their pasts. ============ Works Cited Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany’s.1993: Vintage. Welty, Eudora. Why I Live at the P.O. THE COLLECTED STORIES. 1983. San Diego: Harcourt. English HP\English Literature\el-text-E-Rose www.eng.fju.edu.tw/English.../Rose/el-text-E-Rose.htm, Retrieved on July 2, 2009 Read More