Understanding Point of View in Literature

When writing fiction or studying fiction you are likely to come across the concept of point of view. Point of view can be confusing, especially when it is shifting or when an author engages in a particularly non-reader-friendly type of stream of consciousness, but understanding the basic facts of literary point of view isn't that difficult. Often abbreviated POV, point of view is simply the perspective from which a story is being told or written. The difficulty usually isn't in establishing what kind of perspective is being used, but rather what significance it has on the story.

The choice of point of view by a writer can tell a lot about what he is trying to say. In addition, the choice may be forced upon the writer because there is certain information he has that must be held back from the reader for one reason or another. Obviously, the writer can hold back any information he wants, but unless he's got a good reason for not sharing it with you, when he does reveal it, he runs the risk of coming off as a cheat unless he's chosen POV wisely. (The Sixth Sense is an excellent example of cheating the audience by making them believe something that is patently untrue and impossible.)

There have traditionally been four types of point of view used in literature.

Omniscient: This is when the writer tells the story using the third person (he said, she did, etc.) The writer has access into every action and even the thoughts of all the characters. He is all-knowing, in other words. Omniscient point of view means the writer is a god.

Limited Omniscient: The writer still uses the third person, but his insight into every thought is now limited to just one character in the story, or maybe a few different characters separated by parts of the book. He still has some pretty godlike powers, but he's not all knowing.

First Person: This writer uses "I" and "me" and can tell you a lot about himself, but doesn't have access into the minds of others. The story is told from that person's viewpoint.

Objective: The writer still uses third person pronouns, but has lost all godlike powers of peering into the minds of his characters. He can tell you everything they do, but has no insight into why they did it. This type of point of view strips the omniscience down to reportage of the known facts. That is why objective point of view is often used in the writing of mysteries or detective novels.

Those are the four traditional types of point of view, but in fact there is another that can be discovered in a story using any of the above types, though it isn't likely to occur often in a story told from the objective point of view. This perspective has come to be known as the unreliable narrator. Typically when reading a novel or story, there is an immediate and expected bond of trust between the reader and the writer that while what he is being told may not necessarily be the absolute truth, at least it is true as far as the narrator goes. The unreliable narrator is just that: unreliable. His version of the story may later be found to be contradictory to the facts supplied by other characters. Sometimes an unreliable narrator lies not about the facts, but his opinion and reaction. He may get the events entirely right, but lead you to believe his conclusions were one thing when in fact they were another. The unreliable narrator can produce some very inspired literature. Huck Finn is just one particularly famous instance.