Unveiling the Omniscient Narrator: Insights from Hawthorne or Stowes American Classic

Abstract

For Examination 2, you will have a choice to write on either Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables or Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Again, you should respond to the prompt in a wonderfully written essay, making certain to draw from the text to support your points. It should be no more than three (3) pages long. Find one chapter where the narrator makes an effort to control the access to the story, and respond to the following questions regarding the narrator: What is the narrator saying about the story of overall, regarding the protagonist? What is the focus of this particular chapter? What has/have the character(s) decided to do at this point in the story? What is the narrator saying about the state of America in this portion of the novel in choosing to focus on this aspect? What does this mode of address say about the character of the omniscient narrator? What do we know about their politics? Their gender? Their education? Their psyche? What is their role in this very American story? In citing examples from the text, you want to be focusing on the omniscient narrator – the way they control access to the story and the way they depict the characters and action. While dialogue captures the character, remember, it does not show us anything about the narrator. Use your chapter to uncover clues as to their character.