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Post by lisasortino on Sept 23, 2015 17:52:49 GMT
The second person point of view allows the audience to relate to the story and more specifically to the main character. This point of view allows the reader to understand the narrator's and emotions. The narrator feels remorse and loneliness which are two emotions that everyone has experienced and therefore the audience can sympathize with the narrator. The second person point of view allows the audience to put themselves in the position of the narrator. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is intimidated by the teens, he is scared that they may be angry with him. But as time goes on, the narrator actually becomes friendly with the teenagers, building a connection with the teenager that he did not expect to have. The second person point of view allows the audience to experience this dynamic with the narrator. The reader feels the guilt of the accident then the great relief when the teens are not mad. Also the second person point of view highlights the loneliness of the narrator. The narrator is so lonely that he is grateful to have had this encounter with the teenagers. Everyone has felt lonely and appreciates when there is someone they can connect with. The narrator does not have anyone to connect with to dissipate his loneliness. The second person point of view enables the audience to relate to and sympathize with his loneliness. This highlights how the accident did not just ruin the car but allowed the narrator to realize that he is lacking personal connections in his life.
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annej
New Member
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Post by annej on Sept 24, 2015 20:52:27 GMT
Lisa, I completely agree with your saying that the second person point of view allows the reader to learn more about the lonely characteristics of the main character. The point of view is a very important component in the analysis and understanding of the protagonist of "The Accident". All throughout, one can easily see that the protagonist of this story is a very lonely guy. In the first paragraph, the author very blatantly points out that the main character is alone in his car, while the teenager is accompanied by two friends. Although this sentence is very simple, it adds to the previous prediction that this man is very lonesome. Adding on to this, it does not seem that he has very good people skills. Directly following the accident, the man completely blames himself for everything, calling himself stupid and a bad person. He desperately tries to avoid any problem that may arise from this incident because of the fact that he would not know how to proceed if one of the teenagers had, in fact, punched him or made a rude remark about him. The fact that the man appreciates every minute of his conversation with the teenagers, shows that he is very isolated from people and the "outside world". He even says, "You are so lonely, so lonely always, and all contact is contact, and all contact makes us so grateful we want to cry and dance and cry and cry". This simple human interaction has affected the main character to the point where he feels very changed and motivated to get himself out of his constant state of loneliness. Also, the word "you" is used throughout the whole story. This emphasizes the writer's attempt, through point of view, to relate the emotions of the main character to the reader. It evokes feelings of sympathy for the main character, and even loneliness in the reader themselves because after reading this story, they realize that they have felt these same emotions on countless occasions. All of this relates back to the idea that, had this story not been written in the second person point of view, we, the audience, would not have had the ability to connect with and understand the main character on the level that we do.
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Post by tatummcp on Sept 25, 2015 17:12:52 GMT
Anne, I completely agree with your last statement about if the story were in any other point of view besides second person we would not have been able to relate as well. Because there is not a specific character (it is not clear whether it is a male or femal, young or old, social or unsocial, etc.) it makes it so all different kinds of people can relate to the topic being addressed. If the point of view were first person rather than second we would know that this stream of consciousness is of one specific person and so we would get the feeling that we can not relate to what is being said so we do not feel as connected to the narrator or story in general. While third person omniscient may have also been successful in getting the reader to connect with the story because he or she could connect to one character within the story, it would not have the same effect or impact as second person point of view because it would not be as relatable for everyone. No other point of view can bring the reader or put the reader into the story as second person point of view. Through second person point of view it helps the reader really connect and relate to the narrator, his thought process, and the situation in general.
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