Custom «A Mercy by Toni Morrison» Essay Paper Sample

1. The author has used shifting point of view. The story is told in first and third person point of view narration. The narrative point of view in the novel A mercy by Toni Morrison is the first person narrative point of view and third person point of view. The narrative employs the first and third person point of view because it makes use of the pronoun "I" and "she". This shows that the narrator is a person involved in the story and he/she is telling the story from his/her point of view. Other characters in the story are also involved in telling the story and this is when third person narrative point of view is used. The narrator explains the things that have happened and it means that the narrator is a witness of the happenings in the story, Morrison T. (2008).

2. The use of the first person pronoun 'I' indicates the narrative point of view. The first person pronoun indicates that the story is told from the narrator's point of view. Several things show that the story employs a first person point of view. For example, when the narrator says, "my telling can't hurt you in spite of what I have done and I promise to lie quietly in the dark", it shows that the narrator takes part in what is taking place in the novel, Morrison T. (2008). In addition, the narrator also says that I will never again to mean that he/she is taking part in the events of the text. Another evidence of first person point of view narration in the text is when the narrator says, "I sort them and try to recall yet I know I am missing much like not reading the garden snake crawling up to the door saddle to die. In addition, the narrator says, "I know it is true because I see it forever and ever. Lastly, the author also shows first person narration by saying "me watching, my mother listening, and her baby boy on her hip". The use of the third person pronoun indicates third person narration in the novel. An example of third person narrative point of view in the novel is when the author says, "Lina says and not all natives are like her, she says so watch out", Morrison T. (2008). Another example of third person narration is when the author says "he is forbidden to do this but he teaches us anyway watching out for wicked Virginians". There is also an instance of second person narrative point of view when the author says, "you will rest your chin in my hair again while I breathe into your shoulder in and out", Morrison T. (2008).

3. The story is told from the point of view of the characters who are slaves in America. The slaves express their points of view concerning slavery in America.

4. The narrative point of view in the novel A mercy by Toni Morrison compares to the one of Chopin and Walker. These novels tell their stories from shifting points of view. The stories shift from first person narration to third person narrative point of view. A shift in the narrative point of view implies a shift in the plot of the novel. This affects the readers because it helps them to move around in the story's setting and even beyond. Alternating points of view in the novel are also important because they enable the reader to have different experiences of the events in the novel. This is because the reader will have the experiences of the first, second and third person's narrators in the novel. Shifting points of view enables the reader to experience the feelings of most of the major characters in the novel, Morrison T. (2008).

5. The role of setting in a novel is to reveal the story's time and place. The setting in this novel shows the historical time and place where the events of the novel took place. The setting of the novel in the time of slavery in America helps to create the mood of the story. In addition, the place and time of a story shows the personality and emotional essence of the main characters in the novel. A story's setting shows the surroundings of the characters and this offers insight into the events of the text. It also enable the reader to understand why the characters behave the way they do in the story. Social influences in the setting of the story may sometimes dictate the behavior of the characters in the novel.

6. The novel a mercy is set on an American farm in Virginia. The time of the novel is when America had started to grow slavery because slave labor was required to maintain the farms and trading businesses. Primitive social hierarchy marks the social influences during the writing of the novel and class and gender in equalities marks the primitive social hierarchy. Another social influence in this novel is the divisive and blinkered region that does not seek to unify the characters in the novel. The setting in the novel a mercy helps the reader to identify the causes of racism during the time of slavery in America, Morrison T. (2008). It also shows the kind of religion that was evident during that time. The setting of this novel helps the reader to identify with the characters in the novel through reading the experiences of each of the characters.