The novel is narrated by an omniscient voice. How did it affect your experience as a reader to hear the perspective of multiple characters, even characters considered to be villains?
Created: 07/11/18
Replies: 13
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
The novel is narrated by an omniscient voice. How did it affect your experience as a reader to hear the perspective of multiple characters, even characters considered to be villains?
Join Date: 02/08/16
Posts: 537
I liked reading the individual's perspectives. I think it made the story well-rounded as I really understood each character's own motives, good or bad. I did not agree which each person's motives, but I saw what drove them to do the things they did.
Join Date: 06/13/11
Posts: 272
Join Date: 06/19/12
Posts: 413
I liked the changing perspective. It gave insight into what motivated both the "good guys" and the "bad guys," and helped make sense of what turned into a very complicated set of relationships.
Join Date: 01/23/15
Posts: 237
Join Date: 08/29/13
Posts: 102
It made the bad guys more human. They did not become all bad or all good characters. It is more like real life. The characters are more gray. You could also understand why bad characters turned out the way they did.
Join Date: 02/05/16
Posts: 381
This added a great deal to my pleasure in reading, my understanding of this time and place, and my esteem for the author. She did not turn her characters into caricatures or take the easy route of having "good" and "bad" characters. Every significant character was presented with understanding, as a complicated mix of qualities, even those whose actions were despicable. Taking a character such as Juke, she shows how his supposed friendliness with black people was, on its flip side, a deep conviction of his entitlement to their bodies and souls, even though they were supposedly free. And yet he himself is not really free, despite his hard work, due to his ignorance.. This was a very effective way to highlight the real problem, for that time and still for our time: the collective guilt of sustaining a racist and misogynist caste system, its cost in human lives.
Join Date: 06/01/11
Posts: 54
Join Date: 08/30/14
Posts: 265
The first chapters lay out the fact of Genus Jackson’s death and the subsequent telling of parts of the story by each character paint the entire picture. Once I identified the various perspectives, I enjoyed the reading experience. I had to read a few chapters before I picked up the flow.
Join Date: 06/11/14
Posts: 80
I enjoyed reading from different perspectives even though it could be challenging to keep track at times. I thought it added to the book and made the characters more believable.
Join Date: 02/24/17
Posts: 64
For me, the multiple perspectives added dimension to the story and provided a fuller understanding of the motivations and needs of the characters. All of them were more alike than they could fathom and the motivations were the same of each though characterized differently.
Join Date: 10/12/11
Posts: 256
I enjoy hearing the perspectives of multiple characters in a story, for that technique gives the reader a better idea of the individual's character, personality, and motives. It also allows the reader to evaluate which perspective(s) are most credible and honest in view of the character's background and past experiences as he/she deals with and confronts life and its circumstances.
Join Date: 09/15/14
Posts: 87
It reminded me how important it is to hear and try to understand what others are thinking and perhaps why. When able to do so I think it prevents unthinking responses and negativity.
Join Date: 03/29/16
Posts: 443
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