Essay Question

[rolanni]

I've got a lot to do today, and I thought maybe you'd like something to do, too!

So, here you are -- an essay question.

Who is your favorite character in the Carousel books so far -- and why?

Remember to insert spoiler space, if you need to discuss specific scenes from the books.

See y'all on the flip side.

Comments

[gareth griffiths (from livejournal.com)]

There aren't multiple PoV characters really so other than Borgan (but even then to a degree he's the same) we see all the characters more through Kate's eyes. It's difficult to have another favourite because the storyline is very much Kate's story. Mr Ignat is a good character but we don't really get to see a lot of his story, similarly the other trenway are really nice side stories. Maybe we should say 'the land' and 'the sea' because they are fundamental 'characters' in the story.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting comment.

I'm often told that the...point of a first person narrative is to make the story seem "more real" and easier for a reader to fall into. It would seem to follow, then, that the other characters would be more vivid, through the magic of "I".

Kate -- and any first person narrator -- occupies a strange position in the story. They are *telling you,* while pretending not to know that there's a "you" to tell. They are, in addition to being their own person, the voice of the story. But the other characters ought still to feel. . .real to readers, in the same way that the people "I" meet in everyday life seem real. "I" don't know everybody's backstory, but that doesn't make them. . .less real.

. . .I think.