This is a essay discussion the change of the narrator in Carol Shields "The Stone Diaries" I got an A- on this paper so It shold be pretty good. There are some minor errors that need to be corrected, so make sure you proof read!! Hope this saves you some work, or gives you some ideas.

thepuck@unforgettable.com

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English, Hour 6

1 Page Essay On The Stone Diaries

Why does the narrator in this story change so much? Throughout The Stone Diaries the narrator is constantly changing. It starts out being narrated from Daisy's point of view, and continues to change. In fact, I may be wrong, Daisy may not become the narrator until the very end of the book, her death.

With all these changes in perspective we are forced to wonder why Ms. Shields changes the narrator so much. One possible reason is to let the readers experience different points of view. By doing this, the readers don't become jaded by Daisy's point of view, and the readers are better able to lean about the personalities of the different characters. In the letters and sections written by Alice we are able to see how se progresses as a person. In the beginning she is very mean spirited, and all around not a nice person. Even after her "transformation" into a nice person she still has a bit of a bossy, mean streak in her. But by the end of the book, when she is staying with her dying mother she has become a better person, and the reader is able to see this transformation, and understand it.

Another possible reason for the narrator changes could be quite the opposite from the previous reason presented. Perhaps the narrator is doing this to keep the reader off balance, and let them guess about how Daisy is changing throughout her life. As said earlier, Daisy only narrates the sections describing her birth, and her death. This book is about Daisy, yet we only see things from her point of view twice. Ms. Shields might be forcing the readers to guess, and to form their own opinions about Daisy throughout her life. The readers don't know what, if anything, Daisy is thinking, and are forced to form their own ideas about Daisy. By doing this Ms. Shields makes this an infinitely more interesting read. By discussing this book with others you are able to see how you're own experiences, and thoughts affected how you perceived Daisy. To some extent you are able to see how society, which played such a big role in molding Daisy into what she was, affects each individual and their own perception of Daisy.

In the end it is most likely that a combination of these two ideas put forth are the reason Ms. Shields changes narrators. By using different narrators she reveals a lot about the other characters, while keeping the personality of the main character hidden.