Point of View in a Short Story

First Person Point of View The narrator participates in the action of the story and is one of the characters in the story. You will notice pronouns such as “me”, “my”, “we” and “I”. When reading stories in the first person, you need to realize that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective truth.

Third Person Point of View In the third person point of view, the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters think and feel. You will see pronouns such as “she”, “he” and “they” (or characters’ names). There are two different types of point of view: Limited and Omniscient.

Third Person Limited A third person narrator’s knowledge is limited to one character and focuses solely on that one character’s actions, thought and feelings.

Third Person Omniscient A third person narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all-knowing, or omniscient. The reader knows about the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in the story. The narrator probably Follows more than one Character at a time.

As you read a piece of fiction think about these things: How does the point of view affect your responses to the characters? How is your response influenced by how much the narrator knows and how objective he or she is? First person narrators are not always trustworthy. It is up to you to determine what is the truth and what is not.