Many novels are written in third person, using the personal pronouns he, she, or it. It is chosen for the freedom it offers the writer as a storyteller that other points of view can’t match. At a cursory examination readers may not notice that there are actually two different types to this point of view, and even times when it can be broken in the narrative and still be plausible and acceptable for the audience.
Two Different Types of Third Person
Third person is separated into two types, though some writers invent new forms by tweaking an aspect of the subgroups to fit what they need in a story. The traditional subgroups of the third person point of view are:
- Omniscient
- Limited
Omniscient third person allows the writer to be psychic. He or she can retell events that happened to any character in the narrative. Omniscient narration even allows the writer to delve into a character’s thoughts, to be in their head and then to jump out into a different character’s head. It also allows the writer to randomly display the fictional thoughts of something non-sentient like an animal, or a potted flower. Its powers are unlimited and godlike, hence the name omniscient and all-knowing.
Most people have read an omniscient narrator before. A few examples include The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and many classical novels like Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy’s work.
Limited third person follows only one character’s thoughts and feelings, but it is different from first person point of view because the personal pronoun I is not used. The character is not narrating, but the camera cannot draw back its lens or dive into anyone else’s mind.
Third person limited narration is a newer convention of authors and a little harder to give an example of. Many readers will devour a novel and thoroughly enjoy it without realizing that it was third person limited or omniscient at all. However, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea is a prime example of third person limited. Debatably, the Harry Potter books usually follow only Harry’s perspective, making them third person limited too.
Other Types of Third Person Narration
In some minimalist fiction writing, which includes writers like Hemingway and Raymond Carver, a style of third person developed that didn’t quite fit into the two categories of Omniscient and Limited. This style is called third person Objective. It differs from the other forms of narration by following multiple characters around like third person omniscient, but it does not enter the thoughts of the characters. It is very much like a camera following people in a hidden documentary. Without interviews in asides to the audience, there are only actions to hint at the thoughts of the characters, and yet multiple stories can be told at once.
Still another type takes a twist on third person limited by alternating character perspectives from chapter to chapter. Many fantasy novels do this. One chapter will present the thoughts and feelings of one character, and then the reader will flip the page and see into a different character’s mind.
Breaking Third Person
Under certain conditions writers in the various third person narrations, except for third person objective, can briefly use the first person I-voice. While relating a character’s thoughts for instance, or the contents of a letter, as long as the audience is aware that that is what they are reading. Otherwise the writer will appear incredibly sloppy by mixing up the two very different types of narration.
 |
