Point of View

Each individual short story has its’ own point of view and voice. Within short stories there are different types of narrative and also different types of irony being used. Each individual author has their own way of telling a story; also they have a certain way to portray their story to an audience. For two specific short stories Everything That Rises Must Converge and Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter we can analyze to see what point of view and voice is being used. Everything That Rises Must Converge is a story that takes place in the 1960’s. A recent college graduate, Julian who escorts his mother to her weekly weight-loss class at the YMCA. His mother attends these classes to reduce her high blood pressure. He escorts her there every week because she refuses to take the bus alone since integration. His mother is extremely prejudice and Julian was the total opposite. In Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter this story is about the life of Mrs. Dutta, an old, widowed Indian woman who had moved into her son’s American home two months prior. Mrs. Dutta struggles with not running a house and in the midst is writing a letter to a dear friend back home contemplating weather to be truthful or to be honorable to her family. First I would like to review witch point of view is being used both stories. For the first short story Everything That Rises Must Converge, the story is being told from a third person point of view. The story has someone who is not any of the characters stating the events that are happening or events that had happened. Also the third person point of view is giving the dialog between and among characters. In this quote from the story it is evident that it is being told from a third person point of view “She said this every time he took her to the reducing class.” (Burroway) This narrative persona is in fact close to the story because it knows how the characters in the story are feeling as well as their individual thoughts. For example “It gave him a certain