Adapting A Dream of Red Mansions: Various perspectives of the novel

What is the perspective of the novel? How important is who is talking?

There are many ways to divide the perspective of novels, including from the perspective of person, from the perspective of participation, from the perspective of single narrator and compound narrator. But simply speaking, the novel can be divided into four perspectives.

Omniscient perspective: The narrator, like a god, stands above all characters. He can jump freely in different places, he knows all the characters' words and deeds, and he can gain insight into the psychology of all the characters, so it is also called the perspective of God.

Third-person narrative perspective: the narrator is a character who participates in or witnesses the story, or a character in the story, or looks at the story silently. He is responsible for telling stories to readers in the third person. Of course, the position where he stands determines that he can't understand other people's inner thoughts. Many times, he can only guess, and may even be responsible for witnessing. For example, Kafka's Metamorphosis and Hemingway's Black Boy.

The first-person perspective of the protagonist: the narrator is "I" and the protagonist of the story. "I" can't know what others are thinking, but readers can find a real sense of substitution in the experience of "I", so as to get a * * * sound. And the image of "I" is more real and full because of more self-exposure. For example, "I" in Lao She's A Crescent Moon and "I" in A Letter from an Unknown Woman.

The first-person perspective of secondary characters: the narrator is "I", but "I" is a secondary character. I am around the protagonist, observing what he is doing, guessing what he is thinking, and reporting to the reader. For example, I in Chess King and Callaway in The Great Gatsby.

Take A Dream of Red Mansions as an example:

A Dream of Red Mansions seems to be a novel described from an omniscient perspective, but it actually breaks through the purely omniscient perspective, because it can often guide readers to see things from the perspective of a certain character. This combination of omniscient perspective and limited perspective can not only fully reflect the subtle psychology of different characters, but also give readers a panoramic view of all the characters' personalities, and also allow us to look at the Grand View Garden with novel eyes, thus maintaining great reading enthusiasm.

Take the sixth episode of A Dream of Red Mansions as an example.

(rewrite) the third person perspective (observer):

Grandma Liu went to the first room in Taiwan Province, and the little girl hung up the scarlet felt curtain. Grandma Liu nodded and smacked her lips before entering the room to recite the Buddha. Said, and walked into the east room, where Jia Lian's daughter and elder sister slept. Pinger stood on the edge of the kang, looked Granny Liu in the eye and asked for a good seat. So granny Liu and Banel got on the kang, Pinger and Zhou Rui's family sat on the edge of the kang, and the little girl poured tea and made tea.

(Self-evaluation) The character's personality is not clear, but it can constantly create suspense for readers: Why does Granny Liu smack her lips? What character can Pinger see from Granny Liu's behavior of giving up her seat again? The novel left us a lot of space, and we felt the fun of the novel in speculation. However, it seems that language is still too boring.

(rewrite) the first-person perspective of the main characters;

I went to Taiwan Province's first room, and the little girl hung scarlet felt curtains before entering the room. I only smell a fragrance, but I don't know what it is. My body is like a cloud. Everything in the room is dazzling and makes people dizzy. At this time, I have to nod my head and smack my lips to recite Buddha. So I came to the east room and saw a small quilt, a mattress and other things on the kang. I guess it's where big sister sleeps. There is a beautiful girl, dressed in fine clothes, wearing gold and silver, standing on the edge of the kang and giving me her seat. I guess it's Xifeng, so I have to call her menstruation. Suddenly, I saw that Zhou Rui's family called him Ping, and Pinger was anxious to call Zhou Rui's wife Zhou, only to know that she was just a decent girl. So they got on the kang, Pinger and Zhou Rui's family sat on the edge of the kang, and the little girl poured tea and made tea.

(Self-assessment) vividly and truly reproduces Granny Liu's psychology and personality, giving people an immersive sense of reality. It is very interesting to see Jia Lian's residence from Granny Liu's eyes. Along the way with grandma Liu, it seems that the plot is more compact. However, what is the attitude of other people present to Granny Liu? I don't seem to know here.

(rewriting) the first-person perspective of secondary characters (Pinger perspective);

Grandma Liu went to the first room in Taiwan Province, and the little girl hung up the scarlet felt tent before entering the room. She saw him nod and smack in embarrassment. I took him to the east room, looked at him a little, and saw that he only looked at me. I thought maybe he didn't know my identity, so I quickly asked for a good seat and asked Aunt Zhou to sit on the edge of the kang. He called him and Banel to the kang and told the little girl to pour tea.

(Self-evaluation) reproduces Pinger's psychology. From Pinger's attitude towards Granny Liu, we can see that she is a person and also shows Granny Liu's character from the side. However, the information in the article is not enough. For example, which room is the "East Room"?

Original text (interspersed with omniscient perspective, granny Liu perspective and Pinger perspective):

"On the first Los Angeles, the little girl put on a scarlet felt curtain before entering the room, and she only smelled a burst of fragrance. I don't know what it was, and her body was like in the clouds. Everything in the room is dazzling and makes people dizzy. Granny Liu just nodded and clicked her lips to recite Buddha at this time. So I went to the east room, where Jia Lian's daughter and elder sister slept. Pinger stood on the edge of the kang and looked Granny Liu in the eye, so she had to ask for a good seat. Grandma Liu saw that Pinger was covered in gold and silver, and she was as beautiful as a fairy. It turned out to be Xifeng. I just wanted to call her aunt, but suddenly I saw that everyone in Zhou Rui's family called her Miss Ping, and Pinger was anxious to call Zhou Rui's aunt, only to know that she was just a decent girl. So Grandma Liu and Banel got on the kang, Pinger and Zhou Rui sat on the edge of the kang, and the little girl poured tea and made tea. "

Delicate, comprehensive and interesting, the expression and personality of a group of characters are very distinct, and the plot conversion is particularly flexible. This is the gap.

Look, this is the secret of A Dream of Red Mansions successfully controlling hundreds of characters.