point of view
Point of View
1st Person Point of View:
The text is narrated with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. However, remember that no narrator, like no human being, has complete self-knowledge or, for that matter, complete knowledge of anything. Therefore, the reader's role is to go beyond what the narrator says.
2nd Person Point of View:
The text is narrated with the use of you and your. This is rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader. When you encounter this point of view, pay attention. Why? The author has made a daring choice, probably with a specific purpose in mind. Most times, second-person point of view draws the reader into the story, almost making the reader a participant in the action.
3rd Person Point of View:
The text is narrated from the perspective of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.
Point of View in Trash
Trash is written in first person point of view, with multiple narrators. The narration swaps between the three main characters, those being Raphael, Gardo and Rat. However there are occasions where the story is also told by a couple of their accomplices, such as Olivia and Father Julliard. Throughout the text the narrators address the reader, this positions the reader to feel as though they are being included in a real story, as though they are a confidant.
Examples in Trash
“My Name is Raphael Fernandez and I am a dumpsite boy.”
- Raphael introduces himself in the first line of the book. The narrator has the knowledge that he is writing something that will be read and therefore refers to that reader.
“Raphael still!”
- Raphael hasn’t yet handed over the narration to any of the other characters, but he indicates there may be other narrators to come. Some readers may not have picked up on this and it causes a little bit of confusion. This confusion is part of Mulligan encouraging us to read on and make sense of it all. This is due to the fact that we wonder why its still Raphael and where he is possibly going, we read further along to find the answers to these questions.
“So sorry, but I want to tell you about Rat, then I will hand over.”
- Raphael is making direct reference to the reader. He also acknowledges his joint role in the narration of the story. This encourages the reader to feel as in they are being confided in, in the story.
“Gardo here, and I take the story on from Raphael.”
- The second narrator is finally introduced.
Annotate the following excerpt in the same fashion as the examples above:
“You want to come see? Well you can smell Behala long before you see it.”
Answer the following question, providing quotes from the text.
Trash is written from ____ person point of view, this is evident in the novel when:
Effect on the reader:
Rat’s Hole Description:
Creating Reliability and Sympathy
“It might seem crazy asking a kid if you can come into his hole, but this hole was about the only thing Rat had, apart from what he wore. I would not have lived there – anywhere would have been better. For a start it was damp and dark. For another thing, I would have been scared that the trash above would fall and pile up down the stairs, trapping me, like it did on Smokey Mountain.”
~ Part 1, chapter 4
This description of Rat’s hole garners sympathy from the reader. This is achieved through the descriptive language of “damp and dark”, which is not an ideal human shelter. This is further emphasised through Raphael’s informing the audience of the dangers of living in such a position, with the threat of a trash avalanche ever imminent.
Using Raphael’s point of view to describe to living conditions of Rat as being abhorred emphasises the lowness of his living conditions. This is due the conditions of Raphael as he described them previously, which were seemingly dire when compared to our own context, are now being juxtaposed to this even lower state along with the disgust Raphael expresses towards it. We as the readers are positioned to feel sympathetic towards Rat through this use of point of view to juxtapose the situations.
Reliability in terms of narrative point of view refers to whether the narrator is providing an accurate, truthful and unbiased account of events. Reliability changes especially when told in first person as the narrator may:
– Have misinterpreted what was seen or heard.
– Want the reader’s empathy.
– Be untrustworthy.
– Be too immature to understand the events as they are happening.
As a reader you believe the narrator will inform you of details you need to know and you will respond to them either positively or negatively. The reader must then decide if the narrator is to be trusted or believed. This can be deduced through a few questions, such as: ‘How much does the narrator know?’, ‘Is the narrator a participant in or a witness to, the action?’ and ‘What is the motivation for telling the story?’. Answering these questions will reveal the reliability of a narrator.
“Gardo here, and I take the story on from Raphael. We agreed to split the story because some things he forgets –”. Part One Chpt 5. Pg 27
Using the description of Rat’s hole and the quote above comment on the reliability of the narrators in the story. You may want to include additional quotes from your book.
Example Essay Question and Response:
How does point of view position the reader to feel like a confidant? What issues and ideas are centralised by the choice of this confidential point of view? Discuss with reference to a text you have studied.
Stories use different narrators in order to gain the confidence of the reader and influence their attitudes on important social issues. Trash is a heart wrenching story that positions the reader to feel as though they are a part of the action and adventure of the three characters: Rat, Gardo and Raphael. As they narrate the story along the help of a select few others, the reader cannot help but feel as though they are a confidant as the events unfold. Andy Mulligan was moved to write the story, Trash, after seeing dumpsite pickers in Calcutta. The story opens straight into a thrilling adventure, featuring secret codes, political corruption, a murder, an orphan and Raphael, Gardo and Rat bumbling their way through attempting to make sense of it all. The choice of first person point of view firstly reveals to readers the plight of children in poverty and thus centralises social inequality. Point of view also brings readers into a world of political corruption. Finally, the range of narrators gives the reader unique access to the true nature of friendship.
Poverty is a social issue that we can feel distanced from living in Australia. Mulligan’s choice of first person narration through the perspective of the trash boys, and those that chose to help them, helps to centralise the reality of poverty for readers. This is in part due to the narrator’s direct address as they talk you through their adventure and reveal the desperate nature of their lives as child labourers at Behala, they pull you into the story whilst position you to feel like a confidant of their tale of social inequity. The sad reality of childhood poverty is conveyed using techniques of reliability through multiple narrators and direct address. When Gardo first introduces himself to the reader we are informed he will also be narrating, as he is not only a part of the story but also “because some things he [Raphael] forgets.” (Part One Chpt 5). As the reader you are positioned to feel the story will be therefore more reliable and thus more believable because more narrators will result in a higher degree of accuracy from the narrators. Readers are given a sense of the tactile reality of life on the dumpsite when Raphael’s narration describes that “you can smell Behala before you see it.” The use of first person narration here gives an honest and authentic perception of his home and lifestyle and readers who are privy to this, come to understand that life for children of poverty is neither welcoming nor homely. Mulligan’s manipulation of point of view techniques result in encouraging the reader to feel like they are part of a great secret, as they try to escape their lives as poor trash pickers and liberate themselves from poverty. Readers feel the sympathy for the boys in their dirty lives of labour and feel impassioned about the broader issue of social inequity.
Practice Essay Question:
Write an introductory paragraph and body paragraph addressing the following question as practice for your unseen essay.
“Authors implement point of view in a way they feel most accurately conveys their intended themes.” Discuss this statement in reference to a text you have studied.
1st Person Point of View:
The text is narrated with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. However, remember that no narrator, like no human being, has complete self-knowledge or, for that matter, complete knowledge of anything. Therefore, the reader's role is to go beyond what the narrator says.
2nd Person Point of View:
The text is narrated with the use of you and your. This is rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader. When you encounter this point of view, pay attention. Why? The author has made a daring choice, probably with a specific purpose in mind. Most times, second-person point of view draws the reader into the story, almost making the reader a participant in the action.
3rd Person Point of View:
The text is narrated from the perspective of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.
Point of View in Trash
Trash is written in first person point of view, with multiple narrators. The narration swaps between the three main characters, those being Raphael, Gardo and Rat. However there are occasions where the story is also told by a couple of their accomplices, such as Olivia and Father Julliard. Throughout the text the narrators address the reader, this positions the reader to feel as though they are being included in a real story, as though they are a confidant.
Examples in Trash
“My Name is Raphael Fernandez and I am a dumpsite boy.”
- Raphael introduces himself in the first line of the book. The narrator has the knowledge that he is writing something that will be read and therefore refers to that reader.
“Raphael still!”
- Raphael hasn’t yet handed over the narration to any of the other characters, but he indicates there may be other narrators to come. Some readers may not have picked up on this and it causes a little bit of confusion. This confusion is part of Mulligan encouraging us to read on and make sense of it all. This is due to the fact that we wonder why its still Raphael and where he is possibly going, we read further along to find the answers to these questions.
“So sorry, but I want to tell you about Rat, then I will hand over.”
- Raphael is making direct reference to the reader. He also acknowledges his joint role in the narration of the story. This encourages the reader to feel as in they are being confided in, in the story.
“Gardo here, and I take the story on from Raphael.”
- The second narrator is finally introduced.
Annotate the following excerpt in the same fashion as the examples above:
“You want to come see? Well you can smell Behala long before you see it.”
Answer the following question, providing quotes from the text.
Trash is written from ____ person point of view, this is evident in the novel when:
Effect on the reader:
Rat’s Hole Description:
Creating Reliability and Sympathy
“It might seem crazy asking a kid if you can come into his hole, but this hole was about the only thing Rat had, apart from what he wore. I would not have lived there – anywhere would have been better. For a start it was damp and dark. For another thing, I would have been scared that the trash above would fall and pile up down the stairs, trapping me, like it did on Smokey Mountain.”
~ Part 1, chapter 4
This description of Rat’s hole garners sympathy from the reader. This is achieved through the descriptive language of “damp and dark”, which is not an ideal human shelter. This is further emphasised through Raphael’s informing the audience of the dangers of living in such a position, with the threat of a trash avalanche ever imminent.
Using Raphael’s point of view to describe to living conditions of Rat as being abhorred emphasises the lowness of his living conditions. This is due the conditions of Raphael as he described them previously, which were seemingly dire when compared to our own context, are now being juxtaposed to this even lower state along with the disgust Raphael expresses towards it. We as the readers are positioned to feel sympathetic towards Rat through this use of point of view to juxtapose the situations.
Reliability in terms of narrative point of view refers to whether the narrator is providing an accurate, truthful and unbiased account of events. Reliability changes especially when told in first person as the narrator may:
– Have misinterpreted what was seen or heard.
– Want the reader’s empathy.
– Be untrustworthy.
– Be too immature to understand the events as they are happening.
As a reader you believe the narrator will inform you of details you need to know and you will respond to them either positively or negatively. The reader must then decide if the narrator is to be trusted or believed. This can be deduced through a few questions, such as: ‘How much does the narrator know?’, ‘Is the narrator a participant in or a witness to, the action?’ and ‘What is the motivation for telling the story?’. Answering these questions will reveal the reliability of a narrator.
“Gardo here, and I take the story on from Raphael. We agreed to split the story because some things he forgets –”. Part One Chpt 5. Pg 27
Using the description of Rat’s hole and the quote above comment on the reliability of the narrators in the story. You may want to include additional quotes from your book.
Example Essay Question and Response:
How does point of view position the reader to feel like a confidant? What issues and ideas are centralised by the choice of this confidential point of view? Discuss with reference to a text you have studied.
Stories use different narrators in order to gain the confidence of the reader and influence their attitudes on important social issues. Trash is a heart wrenching story that positions the reader to feel as though they are a part of the action and adventure of the three characters: Rat, Gardo and Raphael. As they narrate the story along the help of a select few others, the reader cannot help but feel as though they are a confidant as the events unfold. Andy Mulligan was moved to write the story, Trash, after seeing dumpsite pickers in Calcutta. The story opens straight into a thrilling adventure, featuring secret codes, political corruption, a murder, an orphan and Raphael, Gardo and Rat bumbling their way through attempting to make sense of it all. The choice of first person point of view firstly reveals to readers the plight of children in poverty and thus centralises social inequality. Point of view also brings readers into a world of political corruption. Finally, the range of narrators gives the reader unique access to the true nature of friendship.
Poverty is a social issue that we can feel distanced from living in Australia. Mulligan’s choice of first person narration through the perspective of the trash boys, and those that chose to help them, helps to centralise the reality of poverty for readers. This is in part due to the narrator’s direct address as they talk you through their adventure and reveal the desperate nature of their lives as child labourers at Behala, they pull you into the story whilst position you to feel like a confidant of their tale of social inequity. The sad reality of childhood poverty is conveyed using techniques of reliability through multiple narrators and direct address. When Gardo first introduces himself to the reader we are informed he will also be narrating, as he is not only a part of the story but also “because some things he [Raphael] forgets.” (Part One Chpt 5). As the reader you are positioned to feel the story will be therefore more reliable and thus more believable because more narrators will result in a higher degree of accuracy from the narrators. Readers are given a sense of the tactile reality of life on the dumpsite when Raphael’s narration describes that “you can smell Behala before you see it.” The use of first person narration here gives an honest and authentic perception of his home and lifestyle and readers who are privy to this, come to understand that life for children of poverty is neither welcoming nor homely. Mulligan’s manipulation of point of view techniques result in encouraging the reader to feel like they are part of a great secret, as they try to escape their lives as poor trash pickers and liberate themselves from poverty. Readers feel the sympathy for the boys in their dirty lives of labour and feel impassioned about the broader issue of social inequity.
Practice Essay Question:
Write an introductory paragraph and body paragraph addressing the following question as practice for your unseen essay.
“Authors implement point of view in a way they feel most accurately conveys their intended themes.” Discuss this statement in reference to a text you have studied.