Narration Techniques Add Interest in Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland

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Narration Techniques Add Interest in Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland

In today's popular horror movies, one common element is that the audience always knows what is going to happen. The main character, of course, is clueless. The girl always runs up the stairs when she should be running out the door or into the woods when she should be running to an open area. I am usually forced to yell in exasperation at the TV screen, always hoping that the girl will hear me. Somehow, she never does. Even though the audience can see the masked man standing around the corner, the blond actress running in high heels is oblivious. These are the movies that I can watch without being scared. The real terror comes whenever I am placed in the situation of not knowing what is lurking around the corner. The same principle can be applied in novels. Sometimes, it is necessary to have an omniscient narrator, someone who can read the minds of the other characters and explain to the reader exactly what is happening. Other stories, however, are better crafted by using a narrator who does not know what is happening. Wieland, a novel by Charles Brockden Brown, is an example of this latter type of book. Brown uses Clara as a first person narrator - one who does not fully understand the details of the circumstances surrounding her. While Clara may give an inaccurate account of the details of the story, allowing the reader to view events through her eyes gives an added sense of terror. Instead of merely plodding through an account of events, the reader is taken with Clara on a roller coaster ride of emotions. As Clara's opinions and views change, so do the readers.

One of the main sources of terror in this story is the idea of disemb...

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... or so thoughtlessly inflicted" (273).

Reading a novel is an active experience. Opinions are formed and changed during the course of a plot. Not knowing what is going to happen next, or what is lurking around the corner, can provide the same sort of fear in a novel that is present in a scary movie. Brown's use of first person narration may have exposed some bad judgement in the characters, especially Clara. Her ever-changing views and assessments of Carwin, however, play a large part in maintaining the suspense of the story. It is the use of first person narration that allows us to see Clara's judgement of Carwin for what it is, without the help of an omniscient narrator. As a result, the story is able to capture our attention and instill us with fear.

Works Cited:

Brown, Brockden Charles. Wieland; or The Transformation. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998.

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