First person vs. Second person vs. Third person - Rebekah Bergman

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Who is telling a story, and from what perspective, are some of the most important choices an author makes. Told from a different point of view, a story can transform completely. Third person, first person, and second person perspectives each have unique possibilities and constraints. So how do you choose a point of view for your story? Rebekah Bergman explores the different ways to focus a story.

Lesson by Rebekah Bergman, directed by Gibbons Studio.

“I am an invisible man.”

“Mrs. Dalloway said she would
buy the flowers herself.”

“You are about to begin reading
Italo Calvino's new novel.”

These three opening lines,
from Ralph Ellison’s "Invisible Man,"

Virginia Woolf’s "Mrs. Dalloway,"

and Italo Calvino’s
"If on a winter’s night a traveler,"

each establish a different point of view.

Who is telling a story,
and from what perspective,

are some of the most important choices
an author makes.

Told from a different point of view,
a story can transform completely.

Take this fairytale:

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel,"
the Prince called, "let down your hair."

Rapunzel unbraided her hair
and slung it out the window.

The prince climbed her tresses
into the tower.

Rapunzel is typically told like this,
with the narrator outside the story.

This point of view is called third person.

But Rapunzel can also be told
by a character in the story—

a first person narrator.

The tail end of Rapunzel’s locks
plopped down at my feet.

I grabbed on and began to climb… ugh!

I couldn’t untangle myself.

Strands came off all over me,
sticking to my sweat.

In a first person narrative, the story
can change dramatically

depending on which character
is the narrator.

Say Rapunzel was narrating
instead of the prince:

I hope he appreciates how long it takes
to unbraid 25 feet of hair, I thought.

OUCH! I'll be honest; I thought my scalp
would stretch off of my skull.

"Can you climb any faster?" I yelled.

In second person, the narrator addresses
the story to the reader:

He calls your name. He wants you
to let your hair down.

You just finished braiding it, but hey–
you don't get a lot of visitors.

Third person, first person,
and second person perspectives

each have unique possibilities
and constraints.

So how do you choose a point
of view for your story?

Constraints aren’t necessarily
a bad thing—

they can help focus a story
or highlight certain elements.

For example,

a third person narrator is necessarily
a bit removed from the characters.

But that can be good for stories
where a feeling of distance is important.

A third person narrator
can be either limited,

meaning they stick close to one
character’s thoughts and feelings,

or they can be omniscient,
able to flit between characters’ minds

and give the reader more information.

A first person story creates closeness
between the reader and the narrator.

It’s also restricted
by the narrator’s knowledge.

This can create suspense

as the reader finds out information
along with the character.

A first person narrator
doesn’t necessarily

have to represent the character’s
experience faithfully—

they can be delusional or dishonest.

In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel
"The Remains of the Day,"

Stevens, an aging British butler in 1956,
recounts his many years of service,

but fails to acknowledge the flaws
of the man he serves.

The cracks in his narrative eventually
draw the reader’s attention

to the under-acknowledged failings
of the culture and class system

he inhabits.

Justin Torres’s novel, "We the Animals,"

begins with a plural
first person narrator:

“We were six snatching hands,
six stomping feet;

we were brothers, boys, three little kings
locked in a feud for more.”

Partway through the story,
the point of view shifts

to first person singular,
from we to I, as the boys come of age

and one brother feels alienated
from the others.

Second person is a less common choice.

It requires the writer to make the reader
suspend disbelief to become another “you.”

Placing the reader
in a character’s perspective

can build urgency and suspense.

Sometimes, though,

second person is intended to distance
the narrator from their own story,

rather than bring the reader closer
to the story.

In these cases,

second person narrators refer
to themselves as “you” rather than “I.”

Writers are constantly experimenting
with fresh variations on point of view.

New virtual and augmented
reality technologies

may expand the possibilities
for this experimentation.

By placing people at a particular
vantage point in virtual space,

how might we change the way
we tell and experience stories?