Point of View and
The Anti-Hero
Point of View
• Point of view refers to the narrator of a story
and how involved that narrator is in the
events and actions of the story.
• 1st person = told from the perspective of a
character
– The narrator is a character in the story
• 3rd person limited = not told from the
perspective of a character – the narrator is not
a character in the story
– The narrator’s knowledge is limited to one
character’s thoughts and feelings
• 3rd person omniscient (“all – knowing”) = not
told from the perspective of a character – the
narrator is not a character in the story
– Knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters
POV’s Effect on a Story
• When a story is told from the first person or
third person limited point-of-view, then we
are not able to get the perspective of all of the
characters.
• This means that sometimes, we don’t get the
“whole story,” but only one character’s side of
what happens.
• Often, stories are told from the perspective of
a hero protagonist.
Changing the Point-of-View
• Pretend that your friend, Mary, tells you that
someone else, Hannah, has been talking badly
about you. You are intrigued, so you ask your
Mary everything about what Hannah said.
Mary says that Hannah said something really
mean. BUT, what if you decided to ask Hannah
herself what she said about you? What might
happen?
Changing the Point-of-View
• When you tell or hear a story from a different
person’s (character’s) perspective, it often
changes the way that we understand the story
and its events.
Perspective and the Anti-Hero
• Sometimes, authors tell a story from the
perspective of a protagonist who is not a hero
or “good guy.”
• They are still a protagonist because they are
the main character on whom the action
centers, but they are often more villain-like or
questionable in character.
• This is called the anti-hero.
The Anti-Hero
• The concept of an Anti-Hero is often used in
darker literature.
• The Anti-Hero is being used more in modern
literature as authors try to portray villains as
complex characters
• An Anti-Hero sometimes relates to a reader
because the Anti-Hero displays more humanity
that a regular Hero who is perfect.
• Instead of a standard tragic flaw an Anti-Hero
may try to do what is right by using questionable
means.
The Anti-Hero
• Some Anti-Heroes may be unable to commit
to traditional values of society.
• This type of Anti-Hero distrusts conventional
society.
• Another type of Anti-Hero cannot “get a
break” in life – nothing seems to be their own
fault.
• He/she will move from one disappointment to
another, their efforts always ending in failure.
But, can we trust him?
• When reading stories with a protagonist who
is not a hero, you must decide if you can trust
that character’s telling of the story.
• We will explore some stories and fairy tales
told from two perspectives: the traditional
hero and the anti-hero. Then, we will compare
the stories and decide how the changed
perspective changed the story.