How The Omniscient View In The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
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The narration of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is a captivating mixture of third-person omniscient with a first-person narrator intruding in. The use of the omniscient view is shown throughout the book (Lewis, 1950) as we sometimes follow Lucy and sometimes we follow the other Pevensie children. C.S. Lewis’ choice to have the narrator interject their voice into the story is interesting and handled with more skill than some adult books. Having the narrator become a storyteller and in some sense become a character has the readers connecting with the novel better.
The purpose in having a storyteller for a children’s novel is to establish a bond between the narrator and the child reading and explain the events in a way that they can follow. The omniscient viewpoint allows the readers…show more content… C.S. Lewis’ use of the word ‘you’ in the book creates a casual feel like the narrator is having a conversation with the reader. When the readers believe the storyteller is having a conversation with them they forget that they are actually reading and feel that they are listening. The narrator also uses ‘we’ during the book. In chapter 5, he/she says, “and now we come to one of the nastiest things in this story” (Lewis, 1950, p. 44). Using ‘we’ is establishing the bond between both the reader and the storyteller. When addressing the readers directly it begins to involve them more in the story. The narrator establishes this through asking questions such as, “…oh, the cry of the seagulls! Have you heard it? Can you remember?” (Lewis, 1950, p. 181). The reader is now imagining what the narrator is asking which reinforces their engagement in the story. The narrator has strengthened the bond with the reader and is no longer the omniscient third-person, but proves that they are in this