Class Response #1: Narrators and their Reliability

Throughout history, novels have been written in different points of view, by a given narrator.  Narrators are extremely important in allowing readers to become acquainted with the story and its theme.  Two short stories that use narrators, reliable, or not, are “Bartleby” by Herman Melville, and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.”  Both stories show in depth how the narrator’s reliability further progresses into the overall theme.

In “Bartleby,” Melville writes the story from the point of view of a professional lawyer.  The lawyer’s narration can be deemed reliable, in that the lawyer knew the main character “Bartleby” more than anyone else, “But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener, the strangest I ever saw or heard of” (Melville 1).  Here, we see the narration of the story is held in the hands of the lawyer, and the lawyer knew Bartleby very well.  Through the entire story, it is clear that the narrator is seen as reliable.  In the end, after Bartleby’s death, the narrator is changed, making his character dynamic, “Ah Bartleby! Ah, humanity” (Melville 34)!  Through the changes of the lawyer, his narration is most certainly reliable, in that his thoughts and actions portray the theme of the short story. 

Another short story, “A Rose for Emily,” shows the importance of narrators and their reliability.  Faulkner creates a whole perception of the character Emily, allowing readers to think of the character based on others’ judgments.  We can later see, the narrator of the story is the entire town Emily lives in, “When Miss Emily Grierson died…” (Faulkner 33).  Through the long quote, we see the town is the narrator and the narrator is curious, making them unreliable.  A narrator should have more knowledge than the reader, “Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head” (Faulkner 41).  Here, we see the uneducated reveal of the narrator.  Clearly, William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” is narrated by an unreliable narrator. 

In conclusion, the use of a narrator is shown to be of great importance.  When readers read a story with an unreliable narrator, the theme can be unclear or blurry.  Both Melville’s “Bartleby,” and Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” clearly demonstrate its importance.  Without a good narrator, there are different perceptions of the story.  If all stories had an unreliable narrator, themes would be much harder to determine.

Works Cited

Melville, Herman. Bartleby and Benito Cereno. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1990. Print.

Kennedy, X.J, and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Fourth Edition. Boston, Columbus, Indianapolis, New York, San Francisco, Upper Saddle River, Amsterdam, Cape Town, Dubai, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Delhi, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo: Pearson, 2012. Print.

                               

View William Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily" HERE.