Shifting Point of View

In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway starts off the story with a third person objective point of view. In this point of view, everything the reader gets from the narrator is from an objective point of view - the narrator gives an unbiased depiction of what is going on in the story. This point of view is consistent until the very end, when Hemingway shifts subtly to a third person limited in the last two lines of the story. This affects the story greatly, as it shifts from mere dialogue and gives insight to the inner feelings of the characters, especially the girl. Throughout the story, the emotions and inner thoughts of the characters are not revealed because of the subjective point of view, but when it shifts to a limited point of view, it opens up a whole new perspective about the characters. Hemingway definitely uses this as an advantage to make the reader think about the girl and how everything before hand is incorporated into her emotions and feelings.

“Gusev” by Anton Chekhov, also employs a change in the point of view. Throughout the first four sections, it is told through third person limited point of view, focusing mainly on Gusev and Pavel. This point of view allows the reader to get into the head of each character, by revealing that character’s inner thoughts and emotions. The shift in the point of view shifts when Gusev is about to die. From there on, everything is told in third person narrator point of view. This is also an advantage that the author uses to tie the reader into the story. This shift takes the reader out of the minds and thoughts of Gusev and forces the reader to look at the situation as a whole – to step back and re-evaluate everything that is taking place.