A Look at Some of My Favorite Authors
Jane Austen
Jane Austen is a writer that has inspired readers for years. Her happy tales of love and the search to find identity during a time when life, especially for a woman, was not entirely exciting are enchanting. The style of writing that she was especially known for was free indirect discourse. She was one of the first novelists to begin using it. This style is told from the third person omniscient point of view but it is more than just that. The narrator and the characters thoughts seem to mesh together. The following is an example from Northanger Abbey that was found from the website http://prestwickhouse.blogspot.com/2009/12/free-indirect-discourse-and-jane-austen.html
This apartment, to which she had given a date so ancient, a position so awful, proved to be one end of what the general's father had built. There were two other doors in the chamber, leading probably into dressing-closets; but she had no inclination to open either. Would the veil in which Mrs. Tilney had last walked, or the volume in which she had last read, remain to tell what nothing else was allowed to whisper? No: whatever might have been the general's crimes, he had certainly too much wit to let them sue for detection.
It almost seems like the character is narrating the story now as her thoughts are told from her point of view. This writing style was observed in class this semester in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God. The author Zora Neale Hurston experimented with the style as well. The main character Janie's thoughts are portrayed in a similar way to what is shown above
This apartment, to which she had given a date so ancient, a position so awful, proved to be one end of what the general's father had built. There were two other doors in the chamber, leading probably into dressing-closets; but she had no inclination to open either. Would the veil in which Mrs. Tilney had last walked, or the volume in which she had last read, remain to tell what nothing else was allowed to whisper? No: whatever might have been the general's crimes, he had certainly too much wit to let them sue for detection.
It almost seems like the character is narrating the story now as her thoughts are told from her point of view. This writing style was observed in class this semester in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God. The author Zora Neale Hurston experimented with the style as well. The main character Janie's thoughts are portrayed in a similar way to what is shown above
Mark Twain
Mark Twain is one of the most famous American writers. Despite his notability, some schools ban his books because of the language that fills his pages. There is some offensive language but it is all a part of the dialect that Twain wanted to portray. The dialect is definitely a southern one and it is written like it would be heard. This manner of writing reminded me a lot of the type of writing that Zora Neale Hurston did with Their Eyes Were Watching God. One line in her book says "Naw suh, Mis' Turner, Ah'm gointuh show 'em dey can't come runnin' over nice people and loud-talk no place whilst Ah'm around. Dey goin' outa heah!" That is the way that the speech sounded. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain used this as well. An example that comes from that book is, “Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne to git sick; but every time you's gwyne to git well agin.” This way of writing helps put the reader into the setting of the story. It makes it feel more authentic. The characters would just not be the same if they sounded differently.
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is a newer author. Her book The Poisonwood Bible is possibly her most well known. It tells the story of a young missionary family that travels to Africa to minister to the people there. A lot of The Things They Carried reminds me of this book. The missionary's wife feels like she has been chosen to go on an adventure of which she did not want any part. She was forced to go overseas for something she did not really believe in. That is how Tim felt as well. He was forced to go overseas and fight for a cause for which he had no passion. Both of these characters watched people they were close to die and came away changed people. Both of the books also show the different ways that the characters deal with the situation when they return. In Kingsolver's book, the missionary children are forever changed after the experience and they have trouble moving on with their lives. They do not fit in with normal people anymore. They have experienced too much pain in the wilds of Africa. In O'Brien's book, the characters after coming back from the war also feel like they have lived too much. They do not know who to talk to about their problems. This book also relates to A Piece of My Heart. The story is told from the view of each of the daughters and the mom. It is mostly a story of the female journey there and the ways that they cope with pain.