The Role of the Narrator in “The Good Soldier”

... The Role of the Narrator in "The Good Soldier" A narrator is a person who gives a running commentary for a literary work. Most narrators, as with the majority of people, are not objective. This leads to the narrator giving a biased view to his story. Many people would believe that a biased narrator is no longer an effective narrator, but I disagree. An effective narrator is one who can tell a story well by keeping things in some sort of order and maintaining the reader's interest. A biased narrator can sometimes be better than an objective one; his biases can be so extreme or unusual that the reader is held captive by the narrator's story. John Dowell, the narrator in this excerpt from The Good Soldier, has the makings to be an effective narrator. His first sentence is perfect. "This is the saddest story I have ever heard," leaves the reader

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