Duncan

Olivia Duncan
Dr. Holt
Contemporary Literature
22 April 2016
Narrative and Time
A good narrative unexpectedly makes for a finer understanding of a story. The
complexity within a narrative is often dismissed and disregarded. If analyzed, one would see the
true depth behind each Southern piece of Literature, more specifically the importance of timing
within narrations. In numerous literary pieces there are evident representations of purposeful
narrative employments, for example, As I lay Dying by William Faulkner, The Death of the
Traveling Salesman by Eudora Welty, and The River by Flannery OConnor. The affiliation
between narratives and time functions as an essential asset for an author when it comes to
affecting the way the reader perceives the story.
In Southern Literature the most prevalent types of narratives are omniscient, which is told
from the point of view of an omniscient narrator (New Oxford American Dictionary), also
known as a person who illustrates the thoughts and feelings of everyone. Limited omniscient,
which primarily serves the same purpose as omniscient, however, only narrates the feelings and
thoughts of one character in the story, and finally third and first person point of view. First person
participates within the literal action of the story from a characters view. Third person narrators
anchor the reader to a more subtle, behind the scenes point of view when explaining the
characters understandings and emotions. Through different types of narrations, authors can
generate different relationships between their characters and their audiences, ideally with the
goal of creating deeper engagement with their novel.

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Time has great influence on a storys narrative structure and how a reader connects with a
story. More to the point, the narrator often anchors the story to a particular point in time, the
time within the story unfolds as told by the narrator and the time a reader actually consumes the
story all greatly influencing the manner in which the reader engages with the characters. This
framework can be verified by a multiplicity of Southern authors.
William Faulkner, author of As I Lay Dying, was known as one of the greatest and most
beloved southern writers. His ability to create a whole trope for his literature (Cooperstein)
extended the types of writing styles for authors to come, and inevitably characterizing the idea of
tropes as absolute necessity within the genre of Southern Literature. In regard to this novel,
Faulkner experimented intelligently with switching different perspectives and voices, including
those of [the] children(American Southern Literature), by doing so the narrative mode
reaches the interiority of the characters, granting the reader access to the characters selfawareness and reflection. The novel revolves around the Bundren family of seven, who each
individually narrate their lives during a time of mourning. After the matriarch Addie passes
away, the novel continuously shifts in a sequential order to create the effect of one big
continuous thought. In other words, the stream of consciousness that Faulkner offers forth
incorporates his audience to the scenes while effectively switching first person narratives
creating multiple perspectives for the reader to digest. However, Faulkner chose to interrupt the
sequence two times, once time during Darls narrative and once more with Addie. Faulkner uses
two past events to great affect. Each serve an extremely crucial role in conveying facts, and
answering the questions the reader has been yearning to know from the very start. For example,
in Addies narrative she mentions something that seems to have resonated with her for time to
come and that is the only reason for living is getting ready to stay dead(Faulkner 175). It

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introduces a side of Addie that the reader would have never known because each chapter has
been an opinionated monologue, thus far. Shockingly, her death continues to affect the family
throughout the entire novel even though she is not physically present. In transition, Darl argues
in his shifted narrative, that Addie should no longer be referred to as is but now as was. As
this might seem like a simple tense adjustment, it is not. Darl is trying to diminish his mothers
existence with his repetitive connotation in regard to the transition of was. Because of this
narrative shift from here on out it makes the audience second-guess themselves about Addie and
Darls relationship. The divergent perspectives of two narrators help the reader create more
fulsome relationships with characters, deeper understanding of the story, and uncover the least
expected.
As previously mentioned, Eudora Weltys The Death of the Traveling Salesman, the
reader is introduced to a method of third person limited. In this case the narrator does not
specifically conveys the feelings and thoughts of a single character, as the other characters are
more peripherally presented. In comparison, third and first person technique offers a wider range
of dimension for the reader (Wiehardt). The deteriorating storyline revolves around a salesman
who is reevaluating his past. He greatly struggles to articulate his true emotions; therefore the
access created to his interiority via third person limited narrative used by the author, helps the
reader establish a finer comprehension of his thoughts, feelings and the overall story itself.
Therefore Weltys exemplification of both third person limited and Bowmans past expands on
the readers experience.
The third person limited writing style can be used in copious ways. In fact, in Flannery
OConnors short story, The River, her audience begins the short story with wondering who
the protagonist and the additional unnamed characters are. Not until the second page can the

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reader connect that Bezel/Harry is the little boy/child/ Sugar boy and that she is the
babysitter, Mrs. Connin (OConnor 1). To be specific, it is not until Mrs. Connin asks, Whats
your name? [] I dont know but only your last name, I should have found out your first name
(OConnor 2) that the reader can verify the identification of the characters. Flannerys choice to
slowly identify characters creates depth and a personal perception for the reader. Another
important factor to this Southern short story, is the time OConnor publishes it. This was an era
in which Catholicism was widely proposed. There fore she explores the theme of salvation and
Christian revival, which is a direct correlation to her past. To sum up, the time and narrative
point of view proposed, manifests itself within this short story and in the end benefits the readers
understanding.
In summary, the unnoticed detailing behind the timing and style of narratives in Southern
Literature create an essential bridge to support the relationship between the reader and the author.
Each of the previously mentioned literary pieces are prime examples of author-writer relations.
With meticulous evaluation[]and scrupulous attention to details of characters(American
Southern Literature) authors can distinguish a indirect relationship with their audiences. This
bond, anchored to time, creates better understanding and hopefully a more profound impact on
the reader comprehensive and connection with the authors tale.

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Works Cited
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Paulson, Suzanne Morrow. Flannery OConnor: A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne,
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