Third Person Omniscient (via Cabaret)
First! Are any of you in need of a French/English translator? Psychic Roommate is offering her freelance services, so check it out! (French and English websites designed by yours truly. Also, it’s also the barest bare bones of design–it will be fancied up soon.)
Cabaret (1998 Broadway Revival)
Second, those of you who follow me on on Twitter might have noticed that my latest musical obsession is Cabaret, and specifically the 1998 Broadway revival of it. (But can you blame me? Alan Cumming is divine.) There are many reasons I’ve fallen hard for this play, not the least of which is because I have a slight obsession with the Weimar Republic, Der Blaue Engel, and the German language.
Anyway. I don’t intend to talk (much) about Cabaret. Today I wanted to talk about POVs in writing, and specifically I would like to offer a defense for the use of third person omniscient, the poor, unloved child in the POV family.
Both Jodi Meadows and Corinne Duyvis have offered their thoughts on various aspects of the first person, so I thought I’d bring some of my thoughts to the table as well. I have written at length before on how much I dislike the first person POV (a pity, as so much of YA is written in first person and it forms the majority of my reading) and prefer a sense of narrative distance in my fiction and I will try and elaborate why.
Psychic Roommate doesn’t think too highly of the 19th century novel. Her opinion is probably shared by a lot of people, which leaves me crying in the corner, clutching Dickens and William Dean Howells to my breast. I cut my eyeteeth on 19th (and early 20th) century novels, which most likely accounts for my slightly old-fashioned diction and prosaic tendencies.
I understand her criticisms: the descriptions can be too wordy and there is little action and sometimes little narrative thrust, and in this day and age, a driving plot with enormous narrative tension is sine qua non in fiction.
But you know what? Sometimes fiction could use this:
No, not Alan Cumming (although we could all use a little Alan Cumming). An Emcee.
I love being immersed in a story, but sometimes, I like to pull back–to survey the landscape, if you will–and find some insight about what I’m reading while I’m reading. This is almost impossible to do in the first person POV (unless you are John Green) because you are so deeply ensconced in the viewpoint character’s mind you can’t step outside of it during the story. A third person POV (limited or omniscient) allows for commentary–from either the author or the reader.
For example, in the 1998 revival of musical Cabaret, the Emcee is not only the Master of Ceremonies of the Kit Kat Club, he also provides commentary on the narrative occurring between Cliff and Sally Bowles, as well as Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schulz. A powerful example is the juxtaposition of the number “Married (Heiraten) Reprise” and “If You Could See Her”.
In “Married (Reprise)”, Fraulein Schneider is inclined to call off her engagement to Herr Schulz, a Jewish fruit vendor, after being met with blatant disapproval by her boarders and friends in the Nazi party. Herr Schulz tries to reassure her that everything will be fine when someone throws a brick in his shop window. In this production, the Emcee (representing discontented Germans) hovers over their exchange, listening and judging before throwing the aforementioned brick.
Immediately thereafter, we are in the cabaret, where he performs a number with a woman in a gorilla suit. “If you could see her through my eyes,” he sings. It’s a light song about loving someone against everyone’s objections, but the darker subtext is made clear as the song progresses, driven home by the last line.
I understand your objections;
I grant you the problem’s not small.
But if you could see her through my eyes…She wouldn’t look Jewish at all.
The entire musical could be done without an Emcee, effectively placing us in Cliff/Sally/Fraulein Schneider/Herr Schulz’s heads. But having an Emcee elevates the narrative, implicating us with his numbers. “Oh haha, a funny song and dance routine with a gorilla! Oh ha–oh. Oh.”
In some ways, I find having an omniscient narrator makes the reading experience more personal. For me, anyway. In novels where we are so deep in someone’s head, s/he becomes our proxy in the story: his/her thoughts and feelings become my thoughts and feelings. With a third person narrator, it’s often about my thoughts and feelings about the situations at hand. The insights drawn by an omniscient narrator either resonate or don’t and reading becomes as much about my experience as the character‘s.
My favourite example is from Marcus Zusak’s THE BOOK THIEF.
“Saukerl*,” she laughed, and as she held up her hand, she knew completely that he was simultaneously calling her a Saumensch**. I think that’s as close to love as eleven-year-olds get.
*Saukerl meaning “sow/pig-girl” in German, an insult to a boy.
**Saumensch meaning “sow-man”, an insult to a girl
I just…I don’t even…I’m not sure if I can even form the words to explicate what that means to me. Playground insults are as close to love as children get. Guh. To me, that is so true it hurts.
Of course, narrative distance doesn’t just underscore emotional truths; it can be wickedly satirical. One of my favourite uses is when Susanna Clarke makes fun of Lord Byron in JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL, poking at the ridiculousness of his cultivated “literary rockstar” aura. But a very famous example is in Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, and its opening line, no less.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that all men in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife.
I mean, duh. Of course all rich men want to get married; why wouldn’t they? This is a sentiment that Mrs Bennet would possess, but in earnest, whereas the narrative distance we have from the text allows us to see what a silly thought it really is. Ah, irony. It can be so delightful.
Here are some great contemporary examples of the third person omniscient:
- THE BOOK THIEF by Marcus Zusak
- THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS by E. Lockhart
- JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL by Susanna Clarke
I grant you that in this POV, it can be hard to emotionally connect with a character. I don’t much care for any of characters in Cabaret (except Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schulz), but I’m fine with that. This is what I meant by when I occasionally prefer being intellectually tickled than emotionally moved. This is the flip side of the FEEEEEEEEEEEEEELINGS post. What can I say? I’d rather arch sentiment to earnest emotions.
Right. So sorry to have vomited my English nerd all over you. I promise I’ll clean up.
What are your thoughts on third person omniscient? Do you hate it? If so, why?
I love this post, possibly because I did my thesis at Vermont College on how more YA should use omniscient. Yay!
(I put it up online, btw: http://tinyurl.com/cu9ad3 )
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YOU ARE LIKE…MY FAVOURITE PERSON NOW. Let’s be best friends! <3 <3 <3 :)
Reading your thesis now.
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Wow. Love the thesis, Gwenda. I love the comparison you made to poetry, about creating the character that writes the poem, first. That really gave me a lot to chew on, this morning.
Honestly, I’m embarrassed to admit that I think I’ve written a short flash story in omniscient, but I’m not really sure: Tommy the Spider.
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I saw CABARET for the first time when it toured here last year. I admit I’d always avoided it before–what can I say, it’s a Liza Minelli-dislike thing–but I was very impressed with the production, and the show itself.
I admit as soon as the gorilla song started, I was like OH METAPHOR, but it was still a good metaphor.
As to 3rd person omniscient? I enjoy reading it, but I too was an English major, and Austen is one of my favorites. But I write YA, and (so far) I write in 1st person because it feels like the best fit for the stories. Sometime I might try my hand at 3rd, though. I tend to make it harder for myself every book.
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I dislike the first person, but I don’t think it’s a wrong POV, unlike my poor, maligned third person omniscient. I think people ought to tell stories in the POV that serves it best, including first person. (I mean, I don’t think THE HUNGER GAMES could have been written in any other POV!)
I don’t even remember how I got started on Cabaret. Hmmm.
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Now to jump fully into the argument, how do you feel about first person present vs. past?
I used to strongly dislike first person present, but I’ve read so many examples that work well I’ve had to revise my opinion. I don’t think I’ll be trying it anytime soon, though. Even in short pieces I’ve tried I stray right back to past.
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If it’s done in a way where I don’t notice it (e.g. THE HUNGER GAMES), I don’t mind. Otherwise it can feel a little “gimmicky” and I find myself questioning “why is the character NARRATING AS S/HE GOES ALONG?”
In other POVs, past or present matters less to me.
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Exactly. I didn’t even realize A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY was present tense for almost 3 chapters–same with Courtney Summers’ books. HUNGER GAMES is another seamless one.
Also, I think I’m the only one, but in SHIVER I couldn’t tell the difference between the two POVs without checking the headers to see who was talking. Don’t know if I’ll read LINGER.
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Susan, I had no trouble in Shiver, but I was confused in Linger. I thought it was Grace who wrote song lyrics… and in this one, it’s Sam. I’ll admit my memory is bad. Probably I would enjoy this book more if I’d just read Shiver, but I don’t even remember who the secondary characters, who now have first person sections of their own, are.
That said, when I finished Shiver, I couldn’t WAIT for Linger. And I love Maggie Stiefvater. So maybe I just need to re-read Shiver first.
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My first reaction to writing a YA in third person omniscient is fear, LOL. That would be daring and risky, especially for as long as it takes to write a novel. I’d be afraid of not grabbing my readers, not to mention wasting my time, LOL.
But when it works, it really, really works.
Do you think that YA authors (and I saw this in chick lit, too, when that was dominated by first person) end up writing books with multiple first person viewpoints because the story begs to be omniscient, but the authors want the first person immediacy? (I just recently picked up a YA, Linger, that has… I have NO idea… four? five? I had trouble following it and haven’t yet gotten past the beginning.)
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I never thought about LINGER as perhaps wanting or needing an omniscient POV, but I would have to agree with you that the rotating cast of viewpoint characters started to get on my nerves.
Dueling first person POVs can be effective in delivering narrative tension (and dramatic irony), but more than two and I start to get a little irritated. Why does a story need more than two POVs?
I would also argue that third person limited can be as immediate as first person.
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Yeah, I think there should be a two-person limit on first person POVs.
On third person limited, definitely!
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“In some ways, I find having an omniscient narrator makes the reading experience more personal. For me, anyway. In novels where we are so deep in someone’s head, s/he becomes our proxy in the story: his/her thoughts and feelings become my thoughts and feelings. With a third person narrator, it’s often about my thoughts and feelings about the situations at hand.”
YES. BRILLIANT. That is precisely why, as both a writer and a reader, I used to hate first person. HAAAAATE. In fact, thinking of your post yesterday, first person POV used to be a *dealbreaker* for me.
But as you said, it has become extremely popular, and after I saw it done well a few times, I learned to accept it without a second thought. Furthermore, as a writer, I decided I needed to be more open-minded and not just write off a perfectly valid (because aren’t they all?) POV. The more tools in my arsenal, the better. :)
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First person used to be a dealbreaker for me as well, but its ubiquity in YA has forced me to come to terms with it. :-/
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I love 3rd person omniscient. I had an entire novel written in it, but under pressure from my critique group all of whom told me a 3rd person omniscient YA book wouldn’t ever get published, I changed it to 3rd person limited. And I hated it. So I went back and re-wrote the entire book in alternating 1st person POVs. And am still working on it.
I like it more now, but I still think it worked better as a 3rd person omniscient novel.
I guess we’ll never know now…
X V14
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You never know! Philip Pullman writes in 3rd person omniscient and his books still get published! As YA even. :)
I think omniscient tends to be a little more acceptable in middle grade, but I still love it for all age ranges. Who knows? I think omniscient can still work for YA.
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Oh… And I LOVE Cabaret too. Have done for years.
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I was once walking with a friend who was complaining about how much she disliked the book she just read. She was having trouble pinpointing why and ended up saying, “I just hate first person narrative.” I stopped in my tracks, gave her a look, and said, deadpan, “Dresden Files, Hunger Games, The Thief.” She thought a moment and then said, “Okay, apparently I love first person narrative.”
Of course, neither sentiment is true. For me, at least, hating a POV is like hating a hammer. It’s all in how it’s wielded. I do think 1st person gets overused, because it’s easy for a writer to default to it. After all, 1st person is how we see the world naturally. But really, every writer needs to think about their POV and how it aids the story. POV shouldn’t be tacked on, it should be necessary. Megan Whalen Turner is my favorite example of this. 1st, 3rd omni, 3rd limited, combinations therein. She knows when to use which hammer to the best effect.
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