eddingo
2004-08-24, 22:09:56
Analyse the choice of narrator and the point of view
The narrator stands outside the story and uses the third person to refer to the characters but presents the events mainly from the perspective of only one character. In this case the story is told through the eyes of the camouflaged alien aboard the spaceship. Although the point of view is mainly limited to what the alien feels, sees an is able to read in the minds of the humans, the reader also gets to know what the other characters do and think (p. 17, l. 24:”Jeey Thorn thought...). However, some parts of the short story are not presented through the eyes of the alien. Especially at the end when Dr. Weiss gets the idea of a hidden alien aboard the ship (p. 16). Asimov chose the alien as the character presenting the events to stress its friendly intention. It does not want to harm the human beings; it wants to solve their problems. In addition the choice of narrator helps Asimov to underline the problems of the living individuals from the earth. Realizing that the hamsters compete for food (p. 7, l. 8-9) and that only women are “producers of life” shocks the alien (p 11, l. 9-11). A human would not think these aspects are problems on the way to achieve having a better or perfect world. The mentioned aspects let me draw the conclusion that Asimov chose this type of narrator to show that we will never have a perfect world, because there are things we do not want do change (give up individuality) and some aspects we cannot change. So a perfect world cannot exist.
Ist das so einigermaßen verständlich, was würdet ihr daran ändern, ist wichtig :).
The narrator stands outside the story and uses the third person to refer to the characters but presents the events mainly from the perspective of only one character. In this case the story is told through the eyes of the camouflaged alien aboard the spaceship. Although the point of view is mainly limited to what the alien feels, sees an is able to read in the minds of the humans, the reader also gets to know what the other characters do and think (p. 17, l. 24:”Jeey Thorn thought...). However, some parts of the short story are not presented through the eyes of the alien. Especially at the end when Dr. Weiss gets the idea of a hidden alien aboard the ship (p. 16). Asimov chose the alien as the character presenting the events to stress its friendly intention. It does not want to harm the human beings; it wants to solve their problems. In addition the choice of narrator helps Asimov to underline the problems of the living individuals from the earth. Realizing that the hamsters compete for food (p. 7, l. 8-9) and that only women are “producers of life” shocks the alien (p 11, l. 9-11). A human would not think these aspects are problems on the way to achieve having a better or perfect world. The mentioned aspects let me draw the conclusion that Asimov chose this type of narrator to show that we will never have a perfect world, because there are things we do not want do change (give up individuality) and some aspects we cannot change. So a perfect world cannot exist.
Ist das so einigermaßen verständlich, was würdet ihr daran ändern, ist wichtig :).