Narrator Types in Narrative Texts

• In narrative texts, the voice that tells the story does not belong to the author, but to a fictional entity: the narrator.
• There are different types of narrators that depends on if the narrator is a character as well as the way the actions of the main character are described.

Narrators Who Are Characters

• Relate the facts from their perspective and know their thoughts
• They cannot know the thoughts of the other characters and can only talk about what they see or what others have told them.
• These narrators can be of two types:
  • Protagonist: The main character tells what happens to them in the first person, exemplified by: "I woke up feeling agitated and sick."
  • Witness: A secondary character tells what happens to the protagonist using the third person; their vision is limited, exemplified by: "Gregorio woke up agitated; seeing him, I felt that he was sick."

Narrator in the Second Person

• The story is addressed to the reader, who assumes the role of the protagonist.
• The actions are narrated in the second person, exemplified by: "You wake up feeling agitated and sick."

Narrator Who Is Not a Character

• Relates the facts from a superior fictional entity that sees all and knows all.
• It knows the actions and thoughts of all the characters, including the protagonist, whose actions it narrates in the third person.
• It is known as an omniscient narrator.
• For example: "Gregorio woke up feeling agitated and sick."
• In general, writers use protagonist and omniscient narrators.
• Witness narrators are rarely used, and second-person narrators are very infrequent.