Narrative Techniques Point out the main differences between the two narrative techniques A first-person narrator takes an active part in the story. He or she goes through experiences and tells about them from his or her point of view. The reader only gets to know the narrator's feelings and thoughts about what's going on, which gives him a very limited point of view: that of the first person narrator. A third person narrator, on the contrary, has an unlimited point of view. This narrator knows everything about everybody, for he or she does not take part in the story as an actual character. He or she just describes what is going on and is able to look at the action from the outside. by Mareike The most important difference between the first- and the third-person-narrator is their amount of knowledge of the action. Since the third-person-narrator is not involved in the story, does not exist physically. He only tells the story, he knows everything about everyone. He is an omniscient narrator, who knows what everyone is doing, what is going on in everybody's head. It is possible for him to change perspectives, to describe what a person knows or does not know. He has an unlimited point of view. Unlike the third-person-narrator, the first-person-narrator has a limited point of view; other people's thoughts are nothing but speculations. If you compare the first- and the third-person-narrator it becomes obvious that the third-person-narrator's statements are much more reliable, because he does not mix up comments with his own emotions, but presents the thoughts of more than one character, while the first-person-narrator only knows about his own thoughts and just speculates about the others' thoughts. It is difficult to tell, what the truth is. by Carolina The story we are currently dealing with is told by a first- person narrator. The events are only seen through Rosamund`s eyes. So there is a limited point of view throughout the whole novel. She tells interior monologues which show more about her feelings and thoughts. These seem to be in a chaotic order but in the end the reader realises that all these thoughts are important in order to understand what she does. The reader only gets to know Rosamund`s opinion and thus it is very one-sided. For this reason she is an unreliable narrator. First- person narrator: unreliable narrator, limited point of view, interior monologue Third- person narrator: omniscient narrator, unlimited point of view, reliable narrator by Christina If you see the events in a short story through the eyes of a first-person narrator, the reader only gets to know what the particular person thinks or feels. It is the authors freedom to display these thoughts in a chaotic order or to make them comprehensible. The third-person narrator is able to describe the thoughts and feelings of every character and he is also able to tell the reader all about the development of the story. He has an unlimited point of view in contrast to the first-person narrator who only has a limited one. Another point is, whether a narrator is reliable or not. Most first-person narrators are unreliable because everything they do is influenced by personal feelings and their opinions are subjective. They provide only one perspective on the action and the characters. by Julia