Line #5 Main/PointOfView


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3	[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/IncidentalComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pointview.png]]]]
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5	The Point of View of a book is the type of narration a writer uses to convey a story to the reader. There are several types:
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7	[[index]]
8	* '''[[CharacterNarrator First-Person Narration]]:''' I, me, we, us. A story told in first-person is told by the character whose words you are reading. We get to know this narrator very well but are limited by the fact that we can't see what the narrator doesn't. If something important is happening on the other side of the world and there's no way to get the narrator there, then it can't be witnessed first-hand; they'll have to hear about it from somebody or something else after the fact. We see everything that happens in the story through the lens of this person's perspective, so they are usually a SympatheticPOV. However, we are also limited by what they understand and what they choose to tell us, [[UnreliableNarrator which may be inaccurate or misleading]]. The first-person perspective us usually the main character but may be a FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator whose function is to observe and narrate the story of the real protagonist. See ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'', ''Literature/TheVirginSuicides'', ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', and ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga''.[[/index]]
9	[[index]]
10	* '''SecondPersonNarration:''' You. The story is told ''about'' the reader, who is addressed as if s/he were [[NoFourthWall a character in the story]] ("You dashed your drink across Sam's face, offended that he would even suggest such a thing"). It's rarely used outside of InteractiveFiction and short-form narratives like songs, poems and short stories because it gets alienating in long doses. As the story gets more elaborate, it quickly risks breaking the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief to have the reader be told what ''they'' are doing in a fictional scenario. Examples of 2nd-person stories include ''Aura'' by Carlos Fuentes and ''Bright Lights, Big City''.[[/index]]
11	* '''Third-Person Narration:''' 3rd-person uses he, she, them, they; there is no "you" or "I", except in dialogue. It comes in a number of flavors:
12	** Objective/Dramatic is an infrequently-used mode in which the story only relates ''observable'' phenomena, without ever delving into any character's thoughts or feelings (ConfessionCam notwithstanding). It makes the piece feel like a documentary.
13	** Limited/Subjective is the most common POV choice in modern literature. This narration adheres to a SympatheticPOV the way 1st-person does, getting the reader inside that character's head but also allowing the depiction of reactions or other things the character isn't aware of (TheNoseBleed, for instance). If the pronouns could be changed to first person without losing any comprehension, this is the POV you're in. See the Literature/HarryPotter series, or ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''.
14	** Multiple narrators: the story describes the actions and thoughts of more than one character. The different points of view might be separated by section breaks (Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheDarkTower''), by chapters (George R. R. Martin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''), or even just by shifting to a new paragraph (Frank Herbert's ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''; warning: DontTryThisAtHome). This gives the reader a ''much'' wider breadth and depth of knowledge by allowing the reader to see multiple events or the same event through a number of different eyes; if used carefully, it can even [[RashomonStyle make the reader doubt what they saw in the first place]]. This is often used when there is no single protagonist in the story.
15	** Omniscient: The story is described from an external perspective, and any character's thoughts and feelings may be delved into. A truly omniscient narrator doesn't need scene breaks to switch to a different point of view. This was the most common POV in literature before the twentieth century. In modern times it is particularly associated with works with an "epic" feel to them, such as ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. One version of this narrative includes Universal Omniscient, in which the narrator relates information that ''no'' character in the story has. ("Little did they know that a huge asteroid was at that moment hurtling toward Earth!"). This was the dominant mode for narratives before the 20th Century.
16	* '''[[MultipleNarrativeModes Multiple-viewpoint]]:''' This is any story which ''combines'' any or all of the above narrative modes (Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'').[[/index]] This does ''not'' cover things like stylistic blend (having a single authorial aside in the Universal Omniscient style) or occasional rule-breaking (for instance, ''Literature/HarryPotter'' should theoretically never have chapters that are not from Harry's point of view, but in total there are quite a few, including a DreamSequence and a partial-chapter slip in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone Book 1 Chapter 11]]). See SwitchingPOV, which is a bit more lax about that last.
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18	!No examples, please; this merely [[Administrivia/DefinitionOnlyPages defines the term]]. %%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1644184945085449000&page=2#comment-28
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20	!!Related tropes:
21	[[index]]
22	* TheAllConcealingI is about certain benefits of first-person narration.
23	* FirstPersonDyingPerspective: A character dies. The last moments are seen from their POV.
24	* FirstPersonPerspective
25	* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator is when the first person narrator is not the the protagonist of the narration.
26	* FirstPersonShooter is a genre of video games which uses a first-person perspective. Other genres of video games also use this perspective.
27	* FirstPersonSmartass is pretty obvious.
28	* The PrivateEyeMonologue is also written in 1st person.
29	* IntroOnlyPointOfView
30	* NonPOVProtagonist: [[{{Deuteragonist}} All the main characters]] have [[SwitchingPOV chapters narrated from their point of view]]... except this one.
31	* RashomonStyle is a variation on omniscient viewpoint that can be used outside literature as well.
32	* ReaderInsertFic: A genre of fan fiction where the reader themselves rather than an in-universe character serves as the point-of-view.
33	* SupportingProtagonist
34	* A similar trope is SympatheticPOV.
35	* UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective is when a single first-person perspective is adhered to for the entire length of a game.
36	[[/index]]

Context Main / PointOfView