Narrators in Fiction Literature

In fiction literature, we usually read stories through the voice of narrators. Two of the most common types are the all-knowing or omniscient narrator and the character narrator.

What Is a Narrator

A narrator is a fictional voice that tells the story. Its main purpose is to explain what happens so the story can unfold. It can take many forms depending on the knowledge it possesses or its involvement in the story.

All-knowing or Omniscient Narrator

One of the most common voices in fiction is the omniscient or all-knowing narrator. This narrator typically knows everything about the story, including the thoughts and motivations of the characters, so it has god-like attributes such as omniscience and omnipresence.

A very famous example of an omniscient narrator can be found in “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy, a hallmark of Russian literature and a piece of universal literature that transcends time and geography. The narrator does not participate in the plot and knows everything about the characters, their thoughts, motivations, and parallel events within the story.

There are different subtypes of omniscient narrators, depending on how much information they have access to:

1. The classic all-knowing narrator knows everything about all characters and events, even those not yet observed in the plot.
2. The limited omniscient narrator appears to have omniscience but, in reality, can only access the mind of one main character; thus, it is a more restricted narrator.
3. The quasi-omniscient or camera narrator can only recount what one would perceive through the senses, such as sight and hearing, but cannot access the characters’ thoughts.
4. The objective all-knowing narrator tells the story without judging or providing opinions.
5. The subjective all-knowing narrator is opinionated and will judge what is happening, providing its perspective of the events and behaviors of characters. It is usually interpreted as the author sharing their views.

In all cases, the key feature of such narrators is that they do not participate directly in the story as characters, and they have privileged information that a character wouldn’t have.

Character Narrator

Another very common type of narrator in literature is the character narrator. The main narrator of the story is a character who takes part in it. For example, one of the main characters in the novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne takes the role of narrator. Axel, a principal character and the nephew of the protagonist, remains the sole narrator throughout the entire text.

Another key feature of the character narrator is that they usually have a subjective take on the story. One would often experience the story through the lens of the character’s psychology, which is critical to understanding and relating to that character.

Difference Between All-knowing Narrators and Character Narrators

The main difference between the omniscient narrator and the character narrator is their access to information. The character narrator uses the first person to tell the story, while the omniscient narrator uses the third person. Thus, one is an involved participant with limited information about the development of the plot, and the other is an external observer with privileged access to all characters and the timeline.

Understanding narrators in literature enhances the reader’s ability to enjoy and learn from it. My description above is just the surface of what there is to know, as I am just a character narrator in my own story.