Mark Twain writes “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in the first person. By writing the novel in the first person, Twain is able to give the reader a personal feel to the story, allowing the reader to be more absorbed into the story. The use of Huck’s point of view also gives the reader the feeling that the reader is getting the insider’s view and that the narrator is someone who really knows the situation. This further helps the reader to identify with the issues as they feel as though they are a part of the story rather than a third party looking at a series of events being played right in front of them.
The use of Huck Finn as the narrator helps to create a connection between the reader and character. Huckleberry Finn often narrates his thoughts very frankly and openly, mentioning his random thoughts and opinions. This openness and frankness helps the reader feel as though the reader really knows the character. This is important as since Huckleberry Finn is the main bildungsroman character and as such, it is crucial that the reader is able to relate to Huck Finn so as to fully understand his journey throughout the novel and the problems he faces.
Mark Twain does not use proper Queen English to write the book, but rather uses the colloquial language of a southern American child at that time. This creates a more realistic depiction of the people of that society at that time. Mark Twain uses this technique so that the people of that time, reading the novel, would feel as if the characters were just people in their society, making the novel feel almost non-fiction. The use of such language adds to the social realistic nature of the book and makes it easier for the readers to relate too and also have a better connection to the characters in the book. Mark Twain uses this so that his readers (members of society at that time) will be able to understand exactly what Mark Twain is trying to portray of the culture of the society.
“Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha”, written by Roddy Doyle, is also similar to “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in the sense that both books have their main characters narrating the story from a first person point of view. “Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha” is about a boy named Paddy and the experiences he has as a child. “Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha” is situated in Barrytown, Ireland. Roddy Doyle uses Paddy as the narrator of the novel. Similar to Huck Finn, Paddy is only a young boy, 10 years old. Doyle uses Paddy to narrate to illustrate Paddy’s innocence as a kid and how he sees everything very simply, similar to Huck Finn. Paddy sees things as it is and this creates a very realistic picture of what a child’s mind is like. The realism of Paddy’s narrating allows the reader to feel as if the novel is more believable and not just another fictional story. This helps Doyle fulfill his purpose of creating a realistic picture of the childhood of a child at that time.
Using Paddy Clarke as the narrator, Doyle also allows us to see inside the character’s head and know what he is thinking, even if he does not voice it out in the story. This is important as because of this, Doyle is able to show Paddy’s randomness in thoughts, and how his stream of consciousness just jumps from one memory to another memory, with no fixed direction. This can be seen by all the past memories blended into Paddy’s present experiences, which he uses to help the reader understand his current situation better.
All of Paddy’s thoughts are all internalized and not voiced out, except for the time he talks about his insecurities to Kevin. This creates an exclusive feel for the reader to be able to see into his thoughts and understand it more completely. The use of Paddy as the narrator also allows us to follow his trail of thoughts throughout the novel and see how he grows in maturity as the story progresses. Being able to see this first-handedly, Doyle is able to show the bildungsroman aspect of the novel and show how Paddy grows up gradually and starts to speak out opinions of his own.
The roles of the narrator in these two novels are similar as their styles are very similar. Both authors use the style of narration and the point of view of narration to fulfill their purpose in writing the novel, allowing the readers to not only enjoy the novels, but also understand that the authors are trying to convey to them.
