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What is Point of View in Literature? (Definition)

A story’s point of view is the perspective from which events are reported to the reader. Point of view can limit or expand the reader’s access to information about the action of the story, as well as the internal lives of the characters. There are three basic types of point of view: first-person, third-person, and less commonly, second-person. 

In first-person, the narrator is a witness, participant, and chronicler of the action. In third-person, the narrator observes and reports on the actions of the characters, but is not themselves a character. This narrator can be omniscient, where they have full knowledge of all characters and situations, or limited, where they only have knowledge of one character’s perspective. In second-person, the narrator addresses the reader as “you,” effectively drawing the reader into the action of the story. 

Examples of Point of View

Example 1: First-person point of view in The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is narrated from Nick Carraway’s first-person point of view, meaning Nick uses the word “I” and describes events as he experienced them. He does not know what other characters are thinking unless they tell him. Whenever a novel is narrated in the first person by one of the characters, a key question for the reader is how much faith we should put in the narrator’s reliability. In Chapter 3, Nick claims, “I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.” His very need to describe himself this way makes the reader question how much Nick can actually be trusted, and whether his version of events is in some way biased.

Example 2: Second-person point of view in The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern’s 2011 novel The Night Circus makes use of second-person point of view in short vignettes throughout the story. In the first chapter, the unnamed narrator places the reader directly into the action as a circusgoer, referring to them as “you”: “Your curiosity got the better of you, as curiosity is wont to do.” The novel’s final sentence bookends the experience, drawing the reader into the action one last time: “You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream.” The use of second-person point of view blurs the line between the book itself and the reader, inviting them to be a participant within the narrative and immersing them fully within the magical, dream-like quality of Le Cirque des Rêves.

Example 3: Third-person point of view in Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, meaning the narrator has full knowledge of all situations and characters. Though the narrator does not provide access to the characters’ interior thoughts and feelings, they do describe what things look like even when there are no characters present. For instance, Curley’s wife’s corpse is described as “pretty and simple,” even though no one is there to see her. Both the lack of interiority and the descriptions of uninhabited space lend a sense of objectivity to the novella’s point of view. This objectivity underscores Steinbeck’s intention to provide accurate descriptions of conditions on working ranches instead of a biased argument about these places. 

Common Misunderstandings about Point of View

As previously established, third-person point of view (in which the narrator relays the story to the reader but is not themselves a character) can be further subdivided into either omniscient or limited. In third-person omniscient, an all-knowing narrator has a broad understanding of the story’s characters and world. Pride and Prejudice offers an example of a third-person omniscient narrator; the narrator has access to the thoughts of other characters besides Elizabeth Bennet. As a result, the reader gets, for example, Charlotte Lucas’s perspective on her marriage to Mr. Collins and learns about Mr. Darcy's evolving feelings toward Elizabeth—feelings that Elizabeth herself is unaware of.

A narrator speaking from the third-person limited point of view, on the other hand, is restricted to relaying the story through the lens of one specific character. In The Hunger Games, the narrator only describes Katniss’s observations and opinions; we as readers understand the other characters’ motivations only insofar as Katniss does. Though third-person limited point of view is somewhat similar to first-person point of view in that both center a single character, third-person limited involves a separate narrator describing the character as “he,” “she,” or “they.” In first-person, the character is themselves the narrator and uses the pronouns “I” and “me.”

Why Does Point of View Matter?

Establishing a story’s point of view is a decisive action on the part of the writer. A writer may choose to use the first-person point of view, for instance, to offer the reader a more intimate glimpse into a character’s interiority, or to call into question the narrator’s reliability. Third-person, on the other hand, might enable the writer to create some distance between character and reader for the purposes of dramatic irony. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the third-person omniscient narrator knows that “the beast” the boys come to fear is merely a paratrooper that landed on the island while they were asleep, but the boys are never privy to this information. 

Point of view also has a hand in determining narrative voice and style. In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, both Scout and Holden relay their stories in a conversational manner, as if speaking to the reader personally. Holden in particular frequently veers into the second-person, addressing the reader as “you” and likening them to a trusted confidant. Essentially, a story’s point of view shapes the narrative, allowing the writer to offer readers as much or as little information as needed to achieve their storytelling goals.

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