You can easily tell when the second-person viewpoint is
being used in a novel or other work. The pronoun “you” is used apart from the
dialogue just as “I” is used apart from dialogue in the first-person viewpoint.
The “you” in the second person viewpoint can represent one of four different
audiences—the reader, another character, an implied character in the story, or humanity in
general.
Second-Person Point
of View with “You” Being the Reader
Oftentimes when second-person viewpoint is used in a novel
or work of nonfiction, the “you” is the reader or audience. And sometimes the reader is addressed
directly as “reader” as in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. In chapter 38
of Jane Eyre where Jane is being
reunited with Mr. Rochester, Bronte interrupts her first-person narrative with
this line in the second-person viewpoint, “Reader, I married him.” She switches
viewpoints in another place in the book as well. Second-person viewpoint can
often be used interchangeably with the first-person viewpoint.
Another example of using first and second viewpoints
together is taken from Gillian Flynn’s Gone
Girl in which the narrator is writing in first-person viewpoint before
switching to the second-person viewpoint at the end of the first paragraph of
Chapter 1.
When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The
shape of it, to begin with. The very first time I saw her, it was the back of
her head I saw, and there was something lovely about it, the angles of it. Like
a shiny, hard corn kernel or a riverbed fossil. She had what the Victorians would
call a finely shaped head. You could imagine the skull quite easily.
Second-Person Point of
View with “You” Being an Actual Character
The following is also taken from Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl in which the narrator is
addressing his wife as another “you” in a second-person viewpoint approach. Here,
he is addressing his wife Amy indirectly who is not happy about their move
to Missouri.
Do not blame me for this particular grievance, Amy. The
Missouri Grievance. Blame the economy, blame bad luck, blame my parents, blame
your parents, blame the internet, blame the people who use the internet.
Second-Person Point
of View with “You” Being an Implied Character
Sometimes the “you” being addressed in the second-person
point of view is not the reader or an actual character but is an implied
character. The following is an example
of what the implied “you” may look like.
I pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. A nasty habit, I
know. But I couldn’t help it. I needed something to steady my nerves.
Even though the pronoun “you” is not used here, we
understand that the author is addressing someone, someone implied. The actual
character or narrator is trying to justify his actions to his implied audience.
Second-Person Point
of View with “You” Being Humanity in General
Authors sometimes want to address more than just the reader.
They want to address a much broader audience. This is often done in works of
creative nonfiction as well as fiction. The following is an example from James
Altucher’s Choose Yourself in which he is addressing anyone who has ever worked
for a boss.
That’s right they hate you. You created more and more value.
They paid you less and less. That’s the definition of “disdain” in my book.
And it’s not just your boss. He’s just trying to survive
also. It’s his boss. And then the boss of that boss. All the way up the food
chain. And who is at the top? We will never know. Trust me, you and I will
never know who is at the top. I don’t say this to be conspiratorial. It’s just
a fact.
The type of story you are writing will determine the
viewpoint best suited for it.
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