Narrative Perspective Analysis of The Skating Party by Merna Summers
The Skating Party is a short story narrated by an eleven-year-old girl named Maida Will-Singleton. The writer uses various forms of personal pronouns; therefore, the story is told in first person point of view.
For example: “So my mother and my uncle talked to me, both as a sort of inoculation against life and because, I now believe, both of them liked to talk anyway.”
Instead of telling the whole story, Maida listens to many dialogues carried by her mother, Winnie, and her uncle, Nathan but gives minimal personal opinions.
For example: “‘Maybe it wasn’t every girl who took my eye,’ he told me once.” The ‘me’ in the story is Maida, the narrator but, the ‘my’ is Uncle Nathan
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Some could develop an understanding that Uncle Nathan was a mischievous man while others may think that it was a flashback that brought him joy.
The writer uses dual-perspective when Uncle Nathan and Winnie both talk about the skating incident in their points of views. This method enriches the overall mood in The Skating Party and also creates more mystery for the plot twist in the story to work. Dual-narrative is also able to strengthen a character’s personality trait and adds a level of complexity to the plot itself.
More evidence and foreshadowing that lead to the conclusion will be given if the story only uses one narrator who is knowledgeable about the specific topic, concluding in a less exciting ending for the reader. As an example, Uncle Nathan precisely remembers what happened that night. If Maida listens to his side of the story, she (also the reader viewing the story in Maida’s perspective) would quickly realize that Uncle Nathan never truly fell in love with Eunice and saved Delia, the girl he remained in loved with. Readers will also understand the fact that Uncle Nathan has known who he saved all along, making the ending very