The Effect of the Narrator
Although we just started reading Mrs. Dalloway, I can already notice some major differences between the writing styles of Baker and Woolf. They both write stories revolving primarily around a main character, but who they choose to narrate their respective stories brings out the personalities of the main character and helps further develop their stories in different ways.
In The Mezzanine, Baker chooses to write in first person, meaning that the narrator is Howie himself who gives the reader an insight into his inner thoughts. Not only that, but Howie chooses to acknowledge the reader in the way that he makes declarations and asks questions throughout the book. As he writes about his thoughts and experiences years later, I think Baker keeps his audience in mind and writes The Mezzanine with the purpose of conversing with his reader and persuading them to view the world as he does. As the reader feels that Howie is addressing them directly, they feel obligated to think about his perspective and how he chooses to view the world. As we discussed in class, many people after finishing The Mezzanine found themselves still in Howie's mindset, questioning the more trivial parts of life which often go unquestioned.
Contrastingly, in Mrs. Dalloway, the narrator is not Clarissa herself, but still knows her inner thoughts and memories. Like The Mezzanine, the reader gets an intimate look into the main character's psyche and sees who they are as a person. However, where the reader is more included in Howie's thought process, here the reader is more of an outsider, simply observing Clarissa as she goes about her day. But there is value in simply being an observer. The reader does not feel compelled into the same mindset as Clarissa. Her memories and thoughts to herself, with no influence from a known audience, help the reader understand the kind of person she is. Perhaps if Woolf wrote Mrs. Dalloway in the same style as Baker, with the reader in mind, Clarissa would not still keep thinking of Peter, or ponder how her life could've been different, if she knew an audience was weighing in on her thoughts.
I agree with you. One of the biggest differences between The Mezzanine and Mrs. Dalloway is that Howie is giving us permission to listen to his thoughts, and can thus feed them to us filtered. Clarissa has doesn't have a choice, and so her thoughts are guaranteed to be authentic. Howie could be telling us his true thoughts on the more trivial points of his day, but we won't know if he regrets his past decisions, or is still questioning his identity, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting distinction to make. I think that one of the reasons I enjoy The Mezzanine more is because of the first person narration.
ReplyDeleteI like this distinction because it explains how we understand the characters personality and thoughts differently due to the narration. However, I do think that if Mrs. Dalloway was written in first person, we would still read about Clarissa's thoughts on Peter Walsh, but it would just be a different experience. Since it is third person, the narration is somewhat "neutral" in the sense that we don't exactly know how thinking about Peter makes her feel - we only know what she is thinking. I think if the book was written from Clarissa's perspective, then it would change the way we perceive other characters like Richard because we would lose certain information, like how nervous he gets every time he tries to tell Clarissa "I love you."
ReplyDeleteI really like the point you make about the difference between narration styles and how they affect the information we get. I'd point out that the narrator of Mrs. Dalloway is not only Clarissa, but also the people around her and the lens that travels around Westminster, including Septimus and Lucrezia. Going off of your point, I think this use of narration gives us a more full view of Clarissa and the world she lives in, though there are still holes in our perception of both Clarissa and Howie's worlds because of their different styles of narration.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point you make. I also feel like Woolf's writing style allows for a more holistic view of the various characters we encounter. This idea of a narrator who has the ability to go in and out of the minds of all the characters highlights the juxtaposition of certain situations. For example, Septimus. While others view him as crazy, this narrator reveals his inner thoughts, and paints a more realistic and wholesome character. Not only can this reduce the biases we develop from a first person narrator, but it also helps to under the characters on a deeper level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point. I feel like the way in which both of these novels are written give the audience a fairly good gauge on who the characters in them are. In The Mezzanine, it's clear that Howie spends much of his time analyzing the trivial and him holding your hand through his process gives the reader a good insight into how his mind functions. Clarissa Dalloway is more focused on people, her relationships with them, and the past. As you said, having Mrs. Dalloway be narrated through her thoughts probably gives a more honest picture picture of who she is than if Clarissa herself was narrating.
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