Mark Twain uses the narrator as a literary device in his short story, \u201cLuck.\u201d\u00a0 The author first uses his own voice to give the story an air of authenticity.\u00a0 He then changes narrators, building on the original air of authenticity to create a second authentic narrator.\u00a0 By using the literary device of a first person point of view for both narrators, Twain is able to manipulate not only the actions that take place in the story, but he is also able to manipulate the reader\u2019s understanding of, and his or her opinion of, the characters and events in the story.
\nThe narrator that an author chooses creates the perspective of the story.\u00a0 The narrator is rarely synonymous with the author; however, it is not an unheard of occurrence for the two to be identical.\u00a0 Twain is briefly the narrator of this story, given that he manipulates the readers\u2019 perspective by declaring this story to be a true one and not \u201ca fancy sketch\u201d (Twain page).
\nHe increases this authenticity by signing his initials to the statement, thereby injecting himself into the action of the story.\u00a0 Because this practice is not a common one in fictional stories, although it was more common at the time that this story was written than it is now, Twain\u2019s \u201cappearance\u201d in his own fictional work gives it a suggestion of being a work of nonfiction.<\/p>\n
The first person narrator that Twain chooses to tell the majority of the story is ostensibly a unnamed clergyman, formerly a \u201ccornet\u201d (second lieutenant) in the British army under a lieutenant-general the first narrator gives the pseudonym \u201cScoresby.\u201d\u00a0 Simply by setting the fiction of the need for a pseudonym for the lieutenant general, Twain has created the suggestion of literal truth for the story about to follow.\u00a0 The second narrator, however, is an unreliable one.
\nBy stating that Scoresby\u2019s success comes solely from luck, it is clearly apparent that the clergyman\u2019s opinion would differ from that of the lieutenant general.\u00a0 There is some question as to why these opinions would differ, at least from the clergyman\u2019s perspective.\u00a0 While it should come as no surprise that Scoresby would certainly prefer to characterize his success as deriving from skill, the clergyman could have one of three reasons for having a different opinion.\u00a0 All of these reasons extend from his knowledge of how Scoresby came to be a member of the military.\u00a0 First, it is possible that Scoresby is truly an inept, but lucky, man.
\nThe reader is left to reason for him or herself whether Scoresby could possibly be that fortunate.\u00a0 Twain relies on the knowledge that many people have had surprising luck in their lives, or know of people who have had such luck.\u00a0 By failing to mention names of actual battles and by failing to provide the \u201creal\u201d name of the lieutenant general in question, the series of events might seem plausible.
\nSecond, clergyman might be operating from a feeling of guilt that he allowed Scoresby to cheat his way into the military without speaking up about his role in that cheat.\u00a0 His guilty feelings might color his perspective on Scoresby\u2019s actual successes.\u00a0 After all, having gotten into a military school, it seems logical that Scoresby might have learned some practical knowledge and skills no matter how he came to be enrolled.
\nThe narrator appears to be unwilling to acknowledge this fact, however.\u00a0 Finally, the clergyman might be operating from the desire to have his name attached to that of a successful man.\u00a0 By crediting himself for getting Scoresby into the school while at the same time denigrating the lieutenant general\u2019s own skills and knowledge, the clergyman makes himself more important in his own military role–at least in his own eyes.
\nTwain uses the role of the narrator as a literary device for controlling the reader\u2019s perspective of the subject of the story.\u00a0 By injecting a first person narrator into the action of the story, Twain creates a situation whereby the reader\u2019s perception is easily manipulated.\u00a0 Ultimately, however, the reader is left to decide on the authenticity of the story, due to the unreliability of the narrator. \u00a0\u00a0In the end, the reader must decide on the actual role of both the narrator and of the possible role of luck over the course of Lieutenant-General Scoresby\u2019s career.
\nWork Cited
\nTwain, Mark.\u00a0 \u201cLuck.\u201d \u00a0Publication.\u00a0 City: Publishing House, date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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